The Toronto International Film Festival is kicking off. Here are 5 things to look for this year

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto International Film Festival is the clean-up hitter of the fall festival circuit. Coming on the heels of Venice and Telluride, Toronto tends to pull together many of the top films from those festivals, as well as a whole bunch more.

But it’s been a few years since TIFF was quite itself. The pandemic stretched across several editions and, last year, the actors strike left Toronto’s red carpets unusually bare.

This year’s festival, running through Sept. 15, is opening Thursday with the premiere of David Gordon Green’s “Nutcrackers,” starring Ben Stiller as a workaholic forced to care for his rural Ohio nephews.

More than most years, it’s hard to say what’s likely to stand out the most at this year’s TIFF. But with more than 200 feature films set to unspool, the festival is sure to offer up many of the fall’s top films. Here are five questions heading into North America’s largest film event.

Last year’s TIFF was a diminished one but it still launched a bona fide hit and eventual Oscar-winner in Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction.” Not many were buzzing about that film before it debuted in Toronto — a reminder that TIFF can surprise.

This year, some of the top movies debuting in Toronto include Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch,” starring Amy Adams; “Hard Truths" by the British master Mike Leigh; John Crowley's years-spanning melodrama “We Live Inside,” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield; the Scott Beck and Bryan Woods thriller “The Heretic,” with a diabolical Hugh Grant; cinematographer Rachel Morrison's directorial debut “The Fire Inside"; the DreamWorks animation “The Wild Robot”; and the Anthony Robles true-life tale “Unstoppable,” with Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez.

Aside from the movies making a first impression in Toronto, many films will be trying to build off of their receptions in Venice, Telluride or Cannes. At this early point, the Oscar race feels wide open — particularly compared to last year, when “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” were, by September, already frontrunners. Nothing has yet ascended to favorite status, though some movies – like Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning “Anora,” Jacques Audiard’s trans drug lord musical “Emilia Perez” and the Vatican drama “Conclave” — come in with a lot of momentum.

Many of Toronto’s premieres are more focused on buyers than the awards race. That's partly by design. In two years, TIFF will officially launch a sales movie market, similar to the one operated during the Cannes Film Festival. This year, the many movies on offer include Ron Howard's “Eden,” starring Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby and Sydney Sweeney; the Stephen King adaptation “The Life of Chuck,” with Tom Hiddleston; Rebel Wilson's directorial debut “The Deb”; “The Last Showgirl,” starring Pamela Anderson; David Mackenzie's “Relay,” starring Riz Ahmed; and “On Swift Horses,” with Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Studios and streamers will kick the tires on those, and many more.

You can count on little in life as much as the predictive powers of TIFF’s People’s Choice award. While countless Oscar stats get trotted out annually, this one is virtually always true: The winner of Toronto’s top prize will be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. That’s been the case every year since 2012. It was true when “Green Book” emerged a surprise hit in Toronto, and it was true last year when “American Fiction” won. Because TIFF gathers together so many of the fall’s movies, and because it boasts big audiences made up not just of industry professionals but regular moviegoers, what goes over gangbusters in Toronto usually does with the academy, too.

While the majority of Toronto’s selections will be heading to theaters or streaming services sometime in the next few months, some movies — including some very good movies — may not show up for a year or more. Azazel Jacobs’s “His Three Daughters,” a standout at last year’s festival, just arrived in theaters. Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, “Woman of the Hour,” will land on Netflix next month, more than a year after bowing at Toronto. For some of Toronto's top titles, patience may be required.