The stars of TIFF 2009

The annual Toronto International Film Festival is a glorious celebration of movies. It's a time when cinephiles around the city can get together to celebrate their collective love of film. At least, that's true of many of the festival's attendees. Let's face facts, TIFF is now one of the biggest film festivals in the world, attracting some of the most famous faces on the planet. As a result, the TIFF crowd is now just as filled with stargazers as it is with movie fans. While I'm sure the festival programmers would like to think that the TIFF audiences attend screenings purely out of the love of the art form, but the fact of the matter is that many TFF attendees will be showing up just to get a brush with celebrity. With that in mind we thought we'd give you a little guide to the biggest names coming to town for this years festival.

Behind the News

Stars And Starlets

When you show up at a red carpet, you want to see a movie star. That's just how it goes. And if you're one of the many hoping to see your favorite star in fancy clothing posing for dozens of photographers, you're in luck. There are waaaaay too many superstars showing up this year. It's ridiculous. First off, none other than Oprah Winfrey will be making an appearance. That's right, the most famous woman in the world will be gracing the festival with her presence. Will she be giving cars away to entire TIFF audiences? We can only hope.

Other beautiful and famous ladies set to make an appearance include the gorgeous Spanish actress Penelope Cruz who will be showing up to support her latest collaboration with directorial genius Pedro Almodóvar, Broken Embraces. Australian stunner Naomi Watts will be on hand to give the red carpets a little blonde beauty. For those of you who enjoy the darker haired gals, Oscar-winning beauty Jennifer Connelly will be in town as will sarcastic Juno star Ellen Page, who is in Toronto to promote her rollerskate epic Whip It!. And if overrated singers are your thing, you're in luck! Mariah Carey will be in town (though thankfully she won't be screening Glitter 2)