Factbox: Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto International Film Festival opens on September 9 with "Score: A Hockey Musical," a sports-themed comedy that returns the festival to its tradition of opening with a Canadian-made film.

The annual festival, which has built a reputation as the launching pad for Academy Award hopefuls, closes on September 19.

Here are some details about the festival that is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

* GROWING INTO A WORLD-CLASS FESTIVAL

-- Launched in 1976, the first festival, called "The Festival of Festivals" screened 127 films from 30 countries to 35,000 moviegoers, ballooning to half a million people attending last year.

-- A total of 9,542 films have screened at the festival since 1976.

-- In 2010, the 35th edition will show 339 films from 59 countries, fewer feature length movies and from fewer countries than last year. One third of the films this year, 112, are slated as a world premiere.

-- The festival now has 18 programs to showcase new directors, celebrated directors, contemporary world cinema, documentaries, family fare, and Midnight Madness, which spotlight "weird and wonderful films from misfit directors."

-- The festival opens the doors this year to its new permanent headquarters, the Bell Lightbox, a new downtown complex that will house five public cinemas, two galleries, learning studios, and several restaurants. The land was donated by Ivan Reitman and his family. Reitman is a Canadian film producer and director, best known for comedy films such as "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "Ghostbusters."

-- An extra day was added for screenings this year, extending the festival to 11 days.

-- Toronto's festival is fierce competition to the Venice International Film Festival, which overlap one another and often show many of the same films.

* ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET

-- Among Hollywood stars expected to attend this year are Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Robert De Niro, Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Helen Mirren, Megan Fox, Natalie Portman, Edward Norton, Javier Bardem, and Aamir Khan.

-- Filmmakers that are presenting world premieres: Clint Eastwood, Danny Boyle, Robert Redford, Werner Herzog, Michael Winterbottom, Errol Morris, Guillaume Canet, Milcho Manchevski, Kiran Rao, and David Schwimmer.

* ROAD TO THE OSCARS

-- The festival is non-competitive but has become a place to garner Oscar buzz. The festival's major prize, the People's Choice Award, is handed out to the most popular among the film-going public. The last two winners -- "Precious" and "Slumdog Millionaire" have gone on to be nominated for Best Picture Oscars.

-- Other People's Choice winners have included "Eastern Promises" (2007), "American Beauty" (1999), "Shine" (1996), and "The Big Chill" (1983).

-- "Slumdog Millionaire" went on to win eight Oscars at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture of 2008.

-- Other Best Picture winners that were screened at TIFF: "The Hurt Locker", "Crash", and "Chariots of Fire".

-- Toronto audiences were among the first to see best actor performances by Jamie Foxx for his portrayal of American musician Ray Charles in "Ray," Forest Whitaker as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland," Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role of "Capote," and Denzel Washington as a rogue detective in "Training Day." Best actress performances include Hilary Swank as a transgendered teen in "Boys Don't Cry." Mo'Nique won the best supporting award last year for "Precious" in her role as an inner-city teenager's abusive mother.

(Sources: Toronto International Film Festival Group, Reuters)

(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; Editing by Frank McGurty )