Paris Hilton will be one of many stars that autograph seeker Kayvon Zahedi will be hounding. (PHOTO John White -- UNDER STRICT COPYRIGHT)

If you're famous and in town for the film fest, expect to meet Kayvon Zahedi.

You might hear him before you see him, as the pint-sized autograph collector with his trademark loud British accent has beckoned many a star off the red carpet to greet the little people.

"I just can't help it and I just can't control it sometimes, being an excitable boy like me," Zahedi, a native of Wimbledon, said yesterday.

The 27-year-old is a self-described "superfan" and autograph hound with a serious addiction to collecting the signatures of the stars. He's amassed about 10,000 so far -- and none are for sale.

"I will admit I have an obsessive-compulsive sort of personality," he said.

That 10,000 is expected to grow with the parade of A-listers here for the Toronto International Film Fest, which begins today.

The bold-face names expected to show up include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Woody Allen, Jimmy Carter, Uma Thurman, Jodie Foster, Michael Moore, Michael Caine, and Charlize Theron. A whopping 349 films will be screened.

For autograph hounds like Zahedi, the film fest is like a "pressure cooker" because there is just too much happening at once.

"You tend to sort of lose your sanity, and it just really drives someone nuts," Zahedi said outside the Air Canada Centre, where he was hoping to meet Genesis after their rehearsal. "Someone like me, who wants to be every place at once, you can't possibly have the energy to do everything. If I was a Superman, if I was a super-being, I could do it."

In fact, Zahedi has become so well-known on the local celebrity circuit that he's become a bit of a celebrity himself. Yesterday alone he appeared on Global TV and 1010 CFRB talking about the fest.

He's also got his own Kayvon TV station on the Internet, where viewers can watch footage of him chasing stars, asking them questions and, in some cases, being royally snubbed. One such grumpy celeb was Gene Simmons, who hilariously tries to cover his face with his hand after Zahedi asks to take a photo.

"He just sort of covered it up and acted like a prima donna ... I felt a little sorry and embarrassed by it, myself."

Zahedi will be doing his Kayvon TV gig during the fest.

"I'm really excited to be going out there and having the cameras on me, basically catching me in action and interacting with the stars."

He's also working with pen-maker Sharpie -- every hound has one -- to raise money for breast cancer research. Zahedi carries four jerseys, which he gets signed in a pink Sharpie, to be auctioned off.

He said he can't see himself quitting his addiction any time soon. "It's like, how do you shake a certain disease or buzz that you have?"
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