On Saturday evening, TIFF’s annual Road to the Golden Globes party drew a starry constellation of actors and filmmakers to the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto for cocktails, conversation, and the first stirrings of awards-season chatter. A fixture of the festival—and an early stop on Hollywood’s long march toward January—the fête brought together Andrew Scott, Léa Seydoux, Colman Domingo, Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson, Gemma Chan, and more as the whirlwind TIFF weekend hit its stride.
Among the night’s more unexpected guests was former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who came bearing a new title: producer. Days earlier, he had unveiled his new media company with a slate of scripted series and documentaries already in development. Trudeau was spotted chatting with Watts and Paulson, who joined the party not long after the premiere of their estranged-sisters drama Closing Night, directed by American Horror Story actor Cody Fern and also starring Dianne Wiest.
Also circulating in the crowd were Anna Kendrick, Chloe Bailey, Seth Rogen, Courteney Cox, and Chase Infiniti, each in Toronto with a new project debuting at the festival. Elsewhere in the room, Virginie Efira, Will Sharpe, Laura Linney, Patricia Arquette, and Billie Piper were likewise in town with films on this year’s TIFF slate.
Several of the year’s most buzzed-about ensembles turned out in force. Director Lee Chang-dong was joined by his Possible Love stars, Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, and Cho Yeo-jeong, while Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi made the rounds with members of their La Bola Negra ensemble, including Spanish singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente and Miguel Bernardeau.
Café Boulud’s William Kresky channeled Daniel Boulud’s French polish into decidedly decadent party fare, with A5 Wagyu tartlets, bluefin tuna, Japanese sea bream, and caviar-filled feuille de brique, while bartenders visiting from Four Seasons properties in Miami and Mexico’s Pacific coast shook up cocktails inspired by their respective corners of the world—suitably soigné accompaniments, in other words, for one of TIFF weekend’s most reliably starry nights.
