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| Wetlands, one of the breakouts from 2011's Canada First series. |
The Toronto International Film Festival released today its
list of programmes for the 2012 edition of the festival. As always, it looks
promising; however, one can’t help but notice the absence of the Canada First programme. The Canada First programme is an important
component of the festival because it showcases first features by emerging
Canadian filmmakers. While TIFF requires big hits like Moneyball or The Descendants
(my favourite film from last year’s festival) to draw in the big stars, crowds,
and money that help make the festival as strong as it is, the Canada First series offered a section
that guaranteed a place for new Canadian talents. The big hits help create the
audiences and the hope is always that festivalgoers will branch out from the
hot tickets and discover something new.
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| Did The Whistleblower benefit from being a Special Presentation? |
For example, among the breakouts from last year’s Canada First section were Wetlands and Nuit #1 . On the other hand, though, Canadian first features have
always found a place elsewhere in the festival, with strong films like The Whistleblower and Edwin Boyd playing in the Special
Presentations programme, and plenty of films by new Canadian talents sit
comfortably in the Contemporary World Cinema series (see, for example, A Night for Dying Tigers and 388 Arletta Avenue). There is also the Discovery series, too, which shows films from new directors. Slots in the
Special Presentations, CWC, or even the Gala Series are probably more likely to
expand the audience beyond Can-Con groupies such as myself, so the omission of
the Canada First series might not be
a bad thing. Likewise, the perilous state of funding for Canadian arts might
simply make it impractical to devote an entire series to new Canadian films.
But if a Canadian festival does not offer such a series, then who does? The
programme always notes the country of origin, though, so it might simply be the case
that those on the hunt for new Canadian films might just have to look closer.
It’s important to note that the omission of Canada First does not come at a complete
loss to Canadian films. New to the festival is a programme called TIFF Cinemateque, which offers “Curated gems
from the history of Canadian and international cinema.” So perhaps
festivalgoers can take in hard-to-find Canadian classics while also seeing
something new. Hot Docs, for example,
devoted an entire series to the films of John Kastner in the 2012 edition of
the festival, as well as a trio of films by Michel Brault. TIFF’s mission
throughout the year is to educate Torontonians about classic films through its
Cinemateque, so why not use the festival to show audiences the films that offer
the foundation of the industry?
What do you think? Is it better to group all the new
Canadian talents together, or might the switch be beneficial?
Also, here is the list of programmes for TIFF 2012:
City To City
Bringing international cities to Toronto audiences. A
snapshot of where’s hot right now. This year, City to City focuses on Mumbai.
Contemporary World
Cinema
Compelling stories, global perspectives.
Discovery
Directors to watch. The future of world cinema.
Future Projections
Taking the moving image from the cinema to the gallery — and
beyond.
Gala Presentations
Movie stars. Red carpet premieres. Major audience interest.
Masters
The latest from the world's most influential arthouse
filmmakers.
Mavericks
Engaging on-stage conversations with leaders in the film
industry and beyond.
Midnight Madness
The wild side: midnight screenings of the best in action,
horror, shock and fantasy cinema.
Short Cuts Canada
The best short films from emerging and established Canadian
filmmakers.
Special Presentations
High-profile premieres and the world’s leading filmmakers.
TIFF Cinematheque (new
this year)
Curated gems from the history of Canadian and international
cinema.
TIFF Docs (formerly
Real to Reel)
Candid and unscripted: the best non-fiction cinema from
around the world.
TIFF Kids
Family films from around the world: entertaining and
illuminating.
Vanguard
Provocative, sexy, possibly dangerous. This is what’s next.
Wavelengths
Daring, visionary and autonomous voices. Films that expand
our notions of cinema. (Beginning in 2012, Visions and Wavelengths unite under
one programme).
TIFF 2012 runs September 6-16.
