49th annual Toronto International Film Festival kicks off

The 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday.

Cinephiles can take their pick from 278 different films on slate this year — including a number of heavy-hitters and star-studded red carpets.

Toronto’s Festival Street will be blocked off from traffic and full of free movie-themed events throughout the week.

The festival officially kicked off early Thursday afternoon, with a free “Choir! Choir! Choir!” outdoor sing-along celebrating one of Canada’s favourite band, The Tragically Hip, in honour of the world premiere of the Hip’s new documentary series called “No Dress Rehearsal.”

The new four-part docu-series follows the band from their early days as scrappy kids in Kingston to their final show, which was viewed by more than 11 million people.

READ MORE: Tragically Hip’s final concert to be broadcast live

The touching story comes from Director Mike Downie, the brother of front-man Gord Downie who died in 2017 after a battle with cancer.

The series will be available to watch on Amazon Prime Nov. 20.

On Thursday night, there’ll be the first star-studded red carpet of the festival, with TIFF’s opening night premiere: Nutcrackers.

Ben Stiller plays a hotshot Chicago real estate developer who must take care of his four nephews until they can go to foster homes after their parents die in a tragic accident.

TIFF continues until Sept. 15, and will be premiering films all week.

For more information, including the events schedule and how to buy tickets, click here.