'Water' director Deepa Mehta (left) and star Lisa Ray pose during the opening night gala cocktail party for the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday.

The 30th Toronto International Film Festival kicks off later Thursday with Indian-born Canadian director Deepa Mehta expected to open the festival with her film " Water" which is to be screened in the evening.

Over the 10 days of the festival, 335 films from 52 countries will be shown, including low-budget shorts and Canadian-produced feature and Hollywood blockbuster material. Over 100 of the films will be world or North American premieres.

About 500 celebrities are expected to attend the festival, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman.

A special program will take place to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese movie and the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Canada. Nine Chinese films will be presented.

Starting in 1976 as a festival to screen collections in other festivals, the Toronto event has become regarded as the most successful of the international film festivals.

More than 3,000 films from around the world now vie for a coveted spot on the festival's program lists, though the festival accepts only about one in 10.

The festival is said to deliver an annual economic boost of 67 million Canadian dollars (about 55 million US dollars) annually.

Rod Seiling, president of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, said the festival "generates positive results not just for the business it brings but for the attention it conveys on the destination."

(CRI)

vie: compete for something; engage in a contest（競爭）