The Toronto International Film Festival 2018 takes off at a bright note with the best lineups – auteur and films that would be the centre of attraction at Oscars – Damien Chazelle’s First Man, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born.

On the heels of their six-time Academy Award-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost of one of the most dangerous missions in history.

Director Barry Jenkin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is an ambitious follow-up to Moonlight adapts James Baldwin’s poignant novel about a woman fighting to free her falsely accused husband from prison before the birth of their child.

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut A Star is Born tells the story of a seasoned musician who discovers — and falls in love with — a struggling artist. But, even as her career takes off, he fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.

For the first time, Toronto will begin with the debut of a Netflix’s small screen film Outlaw King by David Mackenzie for a big gala opener.

In total, TIFF will be screening streaming gaint Netflix’s eight features, among them Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA and Paul Greengrass’s 22 July. While Roma is  the new semi-autobiographical film from Academy Award-winning director Cuarón, Paul Greengrass’s film recounts the true story of the aftermath of Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack on July 22, 2011, when 77 people were killed in a far-right extremist bomb attack in Oslo.

TIFF will close with “Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy,” Justin Kelly’s true-life drama.

The fest will be screening the most anticipated films directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Amma Asante and Hong Sang-soo, among others.

In tune with times, TIFF 2018 will also feature women centric films – Nicole Kidman in Destroyer, Patricia Clarkson in Out of Blue and Lady Gaga in A Star is Born.

The 43rd edition of the fest will also feature the Felix van Groeningen’s “Beautiful Boy”,  Xavier Dolan’s “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan” and Steve McQueen’s star-studded thriller “Widows”.

TIFF’s lineup for the 2018 Masters programme, comprises 11 daring new films by acclaimed, established auteurs with remarkable bodies of work. With projects that reflect on history, focus on personal introspection, and take a critical look at society, this year’s programme proves that innovation in storytelling is not exclusive to newer generations of filmmakers.

Included in the 2018 Masters lineup are new works by three acclaimed European directors that unwaveringly address contemporary adversities: the debut of the single-installment version of Italian maestro Paolo Sorrentino’s corrosive comedy, Loro, which stars Toni Servillo as infamous politician Silvio Berlusconi; legendary French-Swiss auteur Jean-Luc Godard’s The Image Book, winner of the inaugural 2018 Special Palme d’Or at Cannes; and German director Christian Petzold’s daring Transit, an adaptation of Anna Seghers’ World War II novel set in an era resembling the present day, which offers subtle and timely reflections on rootlessness and exile.

Chinese pioneer Jia Zhang-ke will introduce his largest production to date, Ash Is Purest White, a look at the rapid evolution of Chinese capitalist society explored through the romance between two mismatched people, while veteran Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto will present Killing, an ambitious samurai genre film set in mid-19th century Japan.

TIFF has selected 46 breakout films from 50 international storytellers as part of its 2018 Discovery lineup, marking a record year for the programme. Hailing from 37 different countries, these promising new filmmakers present works that explore identity, complex portraits of women, and the youth as they struggle to navigate a fragile world.