Why?
The Toronto International Film Festival.
Our little festival has turned into quite the spectacle over the last decade and it's all thanks to us; the movie lovers. The film fest begins on the first Thursday after Labour Day and continues for ten days--that's about 300-400 films!
TIFF was founded in 1976 and was then known as 'The Festival of Festivals'. It started by simply showcasing the best films from festivals all over the world but has since become the premiere film festival in North America. Cannes beats us for first place when it comes to film festivals but we Canadians are gracious enough to accept second place. We all know our TIFF rocks! But, I digress.
TIFF is considered the kick-off for many Hollywood studios to start their films' 'Oscar-Buzz'. Movies like Chariots of Fire, Sideways, Crash, Slumdog Millionaire, Ray, American Beauty (one of my all-time favourites) have all had their North American or even global debut at TIFF. Let's just say, we have a pretty good track record when it comes to choosing movie lineups.
Click here for all of your TIFF info:
http://tiff.net/default.aspx
Today, they announced a huge portion of their documentary lineup:
http://tiff.net/press?newsId=630
And they also announced the Midnight Madness lineup:
http://tiff.net/press?newsId=631
So, it's still too early to tell but there's every reason to believe that the Toronto International Film Festival is going to be a big hit in 2009. Let's just hope our lovely Mayor solves this civic workers strike because I'm not too sure the international film industry will appreciate all of our garbage littering the downtown core.
Just sayin'!
