'Piece by Piece' Lego Figure, Movie Posters: Toronto Is Ready for TIFF

'Piece by Piece' Lego promotion at TIFF 2024 Courtesy of Georg Szalai

The Toronto International Film Festival 2024 is kicking off on Thursday night, and people strolling through its streets can already see that the Canadian metropolis is ready to roll.

People started taking waiting positions for fan zone spots on Thursday, the poutine and other food trucks opened up, and movie posters and other marketing messages have taken over the streets of the city.

For example, a Lego figure, put up to promote Piece by Piece, the animated documentary about singer, songwriter and record producer Pharrell Williams that recently opened the 51st Telluride Film Festival, greeted people in David Pecault Square on Thursday, and people could be spotted taking pictures of it.

‘Nightbitch‘ poster at TIFF Courtesy of Georg Szalai

Meanwhile, a poster for Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch, starring Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Zoë Chao and Mary Holland, which is set to premiere at TIFF ahead of its theatrical release later this year from Searchlight Pictures, also turned heads on the streets of Toronto with its provocative slogan – “motherhood is a bitch.” The film centers on an artist (Adams) who put her career on hold to become a mother and suddenly realizes that she might be transforming into a canine.

Among the other prominently positioned promotions visible across town and getting noticed by passersby were those for Hulu’s Patrice: The Movie, premiering at this year’s TIFF. The film is about “a beloved school crossing guard in her New Jersey town,” according to a synopsis. “She carries herself with uncommon optimism and vigor despite, as a disabled person, constantly having to navigate a world that was not built with her in mind.”

‘Patrice: The Movie’ promotion at TIFF Courtesy of Georg Szalai

TIFF kicks off with Nutcrackers, David Gordon Green’s comedy starring Ben Stiller in his first lead role in a movie since Mike White’s Brad’s Status and Noah Baumbach’s Netflix family drama The Meyerowitz Stories in 2017.

The Deb, Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut and adapted from the original hit musical of the same name in Australia, will close the 2024 edition on Sept. 15.