Let's see if the Canadian public, so kind, can convince Hollywood studios and streamers to let the independent films from this year's Toronto International Film Festival back through customs.

As ever, a promising crop of star-studded films are headed to TIFF in search of distribution. Some have wowed audiences in Venice or Telluride, others gave only a glimpse of their wares to early suitors in Cannes, and still others are on the ground next week making splashy debuts just in time for the awards.

“We’re still feeling the hangover of the last few years. The ongoing impact of COVID and of course the strikes,” said Jessamine Burgum, who runs the indie production shop Pinky Promise with partner Kara Durrett. The duo is in town with one of the most talked-about projects of the year, “The Last Showgirl,” starring Pamela Anderson in a tale of redemption and sequined headdresses.

“You have to be a believer,” Durrett said of the market, which she expects to be active but not quite back to fighting weight. Burgum said wisely and a little wearily, “which is another word for delusional. And we are.”