Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Too Commercial???

The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held September 10 to 19, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario. 335 Films from 64 Countries screened over 10 days. It was organized into many programmes including Canadian Programming, Indie Film Lounge, Real to Reel, Dialogues: Talking with Pictures, African and Common Wealth Programmes (formerly Planet Africa but now spread throughout the other programmes), Midnight Madness as well as other programmes such as contemporary world cinema. Due to the timing of the Oscar awards which had been moved up a month, the Toronto International Film Festival is seen by Hollywood as an ideal launching pad for Oscar contenders which will increase revenue for cash starved Hollywood Producers. Although TIFF shows many films that are not commercial, TIFF is concerned about fund raising for its building and has charged a levy thereto and its seems much of the media attention is on major Hollywood films and their stars and hence the festival may be too commercial. Further, many Canadian productions do not get the attention they deserve.

"Launched in September 2002 by Programming Manager Kirk Cooper, the Indie Film Lounge was conceived as a two-day symposium to open doors for emerging film makers from our many ethnic communities, while introducing them to established members of the Canadian and international film community" [2005 Indie Film Lounge guide] The Indie Film Lounge was launched with a reception and IFL brunches in Yorkville.

The industry sections consists of services and programmes for the assistance and development of film makers and to provide opportunities for film makers to develop and promote their projects. The public section consists of a parallel schedule separate from the media and industry screening for the public to purchase tickets.

Although not as exciting and wild as those in Cannes, TIFF does have vibrant parties to network and to celebrate the films. More business may now be done at TIFF than any other film festival in the world!! Although it is possible to purchases tickets for the closing parties and some of the more expensive Patron programs include tickets to the opening and closing parties, most of the parties are private and by private invitation only - often it's who you know not how deserving you are for attending the parties and there are various sections of VIP - if you purchase a ticket don't expect to be chatting quietly over a glass of wine with your favourite Hollywood star!

The 2009 Toronto International Film Festival ended with the Awards Reception at the Interconential Hotel in Toronto. And the winners are:

AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM - Pedro Pires for Danse Macabre.
THE SKYY Vodka AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM - Alexandre Franchi for The Wild Hunt
THE CITY OF TORONTO AND ASTRAL MEDIA'S THE MOVIE NETWORK AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM - Ruba Nadda for Cairo Time
PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FILM CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZE) - Laxmikant Shetgaonkar for The Man Beyond the Bridge (India)
The Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Special Presentations is awarded to Bruno Dumont for Hadewijch (France).
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - Lee Daniels's Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
People's Choice Award for Documentary and Midnight Madness - Leanne Pooley's The Topp Twins
People's Choice Award Runner-up is Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.
People's Choice Award - Midnight Madness goes to Sean Byrne's The Loved Ones.

With the best recent films from Canada and around the globe, - this is the best film festival in North America and perhaps it has now surpassed Cannes! How many of the films shown here will win Oscars? How will the independent films do? How many deals were struck? Check back here in September 2010 for the 35th Annual Toronto International Film Festival 1010!

Chris

Shinan