The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is gearing up for its 37th annual frenzied celebration of all things celluloid. Dozens of filmmakers and actors—and everyone in between—will compete for the attention of the media and movie fans. Organizers promise “a cinephile’s feast” with new movies from Bernardo Bertolucci, Michael Haneke, Hong Sang-Soo, Abbas Kiarastomi, Manoel de Oliveira, and Michael Winterbottom, among others.
This year’s fest kicks off Thursday, September 6 and runs through Sunday, Sept. 16. Tickets go on sale Sept. 2.
Among this year’s special events is the TIFF Asian Film Summit on Monday, September 10. The guest of honor is Jackie Chan, with The Weinstein Company producer Harvey Weinstein serving as master of ceremonies for the event’s closing banquet.
TIFF Director and CEO Piers Handling felt the time was right for the summit, given this year’s Opening Night Gala, Looper starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis, is a U.S.-China co-production.
“We’re pleased to provide a platform in Toronto for industry leaders in both Asia and the West to get to know one another better,” said Handling. “And I can’t wait for the banquet that ends the day. With Jackie Chan as guest of honor and Harvey Weinstein as emcee, it will be a night to remember.”
Topics set for panel discussions throughout the summit include governmental film policy, financing and sales, Bollywood, and “a study of genre films,” among many others.
Some quick facts about this year’s slate: The largest number of countries in festival history—72, all in—will be presenting films.
A whopping 372 films are on tap, up from 337 last year, includes 289 feature-length films and 83 short subjects. That group was drawn from 4143 total submissions. And here’s a bit of Canuck pride for you: 32 of the feature films, and 47 of the shorts, are Canadian or Canadian co-productions.
One big concern about cinephiles, however, is whether the TIFF has grown so robust with corporate sponsorship and Hollywood glitz that smaller, independent films suffer from a lack of oxygen in the Canadian air. TIFF organizers do make an effort to programs art installations and special events at other venues through the festival, but just as the Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival have become thoroughly corporatized, do filmmakers with anarchic tendencies who deliberately work outside the studio system have a shot at the spotlight in Toronto?
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CLICK HERE for our TIFF 2011 coverage.
CLICK HERE for the official festival website.