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Thursday kicks off the annual Toronto International Film Festival, an 11-day odyssey to the heights of cinema, where hundreds of films from all over the world converge on Toronto, Ontario, Canada, fighting to make an impression with the gathered audiences, industry, and media.

Traditionally, TIFF has earned a reputation as a key player in Hollywood’s Oscar race. There was a time when TIFF would mark the unofficial beginning of awards season, with Toronto serving as gatekeepers to which films would and wouldn’t be Oscar players. Even today, TIFF’s People’s Choice award, voted on by audiences, has maintained a staggering track record in awarding eventual Best Picture nominees. Last year’s winner: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

In recent years, competition from fall festivals in Venice and Telluride have threatened to erode Toronto’s importance, but their 2018 slate sees a slew of world premieres from Best Picture-winning directors like Steve McQueen (Widows) and Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk). What it also features might represent a sea change in the movie business: a record eight films from Netflix, plus another four from Amazon Studios. After years of trying to disrupt the Oscars from outside their system (to little success outside the documentary field), Netflix appears to be playing the very traditional game of playing the festivals before building up to a limited theatrical premiere. Where Netflix goes from there, who knows, but what it means for now is that the epicenter of the Hollywood establishment is where a dozen films from streaming platforms are going to play over the next week and a half. It’s shaping up to be a fun ride.

The following are the dozen films from Netflix and Amazon — plus a pair of TV series from Amazon and Facebook Watch — which will be either making their world premieres or otherwise screening in Toronto.

'Outlaw King'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: November 9

Symbolizing its hyper-charged presence at this year’s festival, Netflix gets the Opening Night slot for its historical epic Outlaw King. From director David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water) comes this true-life tale of Robert the Bruce (Chris Pine), who fought against English occupation in medieval Scotland. Also starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, and Stephen Dillane.

'22 July'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: October 10

Director Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips) is back with this film about the 2011 terrorist attacks in Oslo, Norway. He’s not working with any Hollywood stars, but Greengrass knows how to make this harrowing stories of recent history feel immediate and non-manipulative. His movies tend to surpass their miserable origins.

'ROMA'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: December

Director Alfonso Cuaron is returning to his Mexico City roots for his latest film, a black-and-white story set in 1970s Mexico City. Netflix is taking ROMA to all the big fall festivals, and the early word out of Venice and Telluride is that this is a very special film. If Netflix is going to make a run at Best Picture, this one seems like the one that could do it.

'Beautiful Boy'

Platform: Amazon
U.S. Premiere: October 12

After following up their big Manchester by the Sea Oscar breakthrough in 2016 with a deflated 2017 slate, Amazon is looking to rebound with this Oscar hopeful. Based on the memoirs by father and son David and Nic sheff, the film casts Steve Carell as David, who struggled and agonizes over how to help his son (Timothée Chalamet) beat his drug addiction. The trailers suggest some high emotions and plentiful opportunities for Carell, Chalamet, and even Amy Ryan as Carell’s wife to impress Oscar voters.

'The Kindergarten Teacher'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: October 12

When this movie premiered at Sundance back in January, Maggie Gyllenhaal earned raves for her performance as a teacher obsessed with the possibility that her student is a child prodigy. The trailer promises something with real bite and an edge, the kind of performance that Gyllenhaal can really tear into. Can’t say we’re not wildly intrigued.

'Life Itself'

Platform: Amazon
U.S. Premiere: September 21

This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman jumps from TV to the big screen with this generations-spanning, continents-spanning love story, focused on a couple played by Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde. The trailer promises something heavily emotional, which tracks with Fogelman’s TV work, and the film’s stacked supporting cast includes Mandy Patinkin, Annette Bening, Olivia Cooke, and Antonio Banderas.

'Homecoming'

Platform: Amazon
U.S. Premiere: November 2

For the past few years, TIFF has presented a limited series of TV premieres under the Primetime section. In years past, we’ve gotten Hulu’s Casual, HBO’s The Deuce, and new seasons of Transparent and The Girlfriend Experience. This year, the big ticket item is Amazon’s Homecoming, a psychological thriller about a government caseworker (Julia Roberts) working with a young military veteran (Stephan James) looking to re-join his old life. The presence of Julia Roberts alone would have gotten this series a ton of attention, but it’s also showrunner Sam Esmail’s follow-up series to Mr. Robot.

'Girl'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: November 16

Belgian director Lukas Dhont took home three major prizes, including the Queer Palm, for this story about a transgender girl who dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. Critics in the south of France were impressed, though controversy may await over the filmmakers’ decision to cast a cisgender male, Victor Polster, in the lead role.

'Hold the Dark'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: September 28

Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) plays an animal tracker and wolf expert who is approached by a young mother (Riley Keough) in norther Alaska, whose son was taken by a pack of wolves. She wants Wright to kill the wolves before her husband (Alexander Skarsgard) returns from his overseas military service. The premise might seem straightforward, but director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin; Green Room) never goes in the directions you think, and the trailer suggests a whole lot of mystical weirdness happening out in those Alaskan forests.

'Land of Steady Habits'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: September 14

Nicole Holofcener has spent over a decade making some of the best, most heartfelt, talky indie films about women. She’s worked with Catherine Keener and Anne Heche (Walking and Talking), Jennifer Aniston and Frances McDormand (Friends with Money), Rebecca Hall (Please Give), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Enough Said), in her latest film, she’s working with a male protagonist, played by Ben Mendelsohn. He plays a newly retired man whose desire to break his well-worn rut involves him divorcing his wife (Edie Falco). This movie will be in your Netflix queue before the Toronto festival is even finished, so that’ll help alleviate some of that FOMO.

'Sorry for Your Loss'

Platform: Facebook Watch
U.S. Premiere: September 18

Billed as a dark comedy, Sorry for Your Loss stars Elizabeth Olsen as a young widow trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband. The talented supporting cast includes Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Janet McTeer (Ozark), Jovan Adepo (Fences), and Mamoudou Athie (Patti Cake$).

'Cold War'

Platform: Amazon
U.S. Premiere: December 21

Another Cannes success, Cold War tells the passionate love story of two tempestuous lovers in 1950s Europe, during the early days of the titular Cold War. Director Pawel Pawlikowski is looking to follow up the huge success of his 2014 Oscar-winning Best Foreign Language film, Ida.

'Peterloo'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: November 9

Director Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies; Happy Go Lucky, Mr. Turner) turns his prolific eye towards the notorious Peterloo Massacre, the 1819 event in Manchester, England, where the British cavalry massacred a crowd gathered to protest the Parliament.

'Quincy'

Platform: Netflix
U.S. Premiere: September 21

This documentary on the life and remarkable career of legendary musician and producer Quincy Jones is being co-directed by his daughter, actress Rashida Jones. The Parks and Recreation alum looks to focus her film on her father’s far-reaching career and his humanitarian works.