Jess Blackwell –
It’s that time of year again: the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will run from September 4 to 14. Downtown Toronto will be flooded with excited moviegoers, connection-hungry filmmakers and star-struck city dwellers hoping for celebrity sightings.
For its 50th anniversary, TIFF is showcasing feature films and short works by some of Canada’s top emerging and established talent. But in spite of Canada’s vibrant filmmaking industry, homegrown films continue to make up a startlingly small share of the country’s theatrical screenings. Telefilm reported that domestic titles made up only 3.3 per cent of the Canadian box office in 2023.
According to Sharon Corder, artistic director of the organization behind National Canadian Film Day, “Canadian films face the same challenges that indie and foreign films face: breaking through all the noise and getting some attention. With the whole film world in Toronto for [eleven] days, TIFF is an important launchpad.”
This year, around 15 per cent of the festival’s features are Canadian. Corder said she finds this proportion “decent,” adding, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had that percentage of screen time year round?”
Asked which Canadian films she was most excited about seeing, Corder commented, “It’s hard to keep it to two or three. There are new films this year by a whole bunch of our most exciting filmmakers: Philippe Falardeau, Chandler Levack, Denis Mathieu, Gail Maurice, Peter Mettler, Ally Pankiw, Tasha Hubbard, Shane Belcourt, Matt Johnson, Clement Virgo, Zach Kunuk, Hubert Davis… You can’t go wrong with any of those talents.”
At the top of my own Canadian viewing list are100 Sunset by Kunsang Kyirong, Blood Lines by Gail Maurice, Honey Bunch by Medeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli, Lovely Day by Philippe Falardeau, Modern Whore by Nicole Bazuin, Peak Everything by Anne Émond, and The Cost of Heaven by Mathieu Denis.
TIFF will also showcase 20 Canadian short films as part of its Short Cuts series. This selection includes “Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts” by Shervin Kermani (in Short Cuts 01), “What We Leave Behind” by Alexandra Myotte and Jean-Sébastien Hamel (Short Cuts 03), “ripe” by Solara Thanh Bình Đặng (Short Cuts 04), “Pink Light” by Harrison Browne (Short Cuts 05), “Poster Boy” by India Opzoomer (Short Cuts 05), “Niimi” by Dana Solomon (Short Cuts 06), and “A Soft Touch” by Heather Young (Short Cuts 06).
Corder encourages local community members to “take advantage of TIFF to see great Canadian films.”
Seeing Canadian films in theater can help increase funding and marketing opportunities for local filmmakers. It can also contribute to our sense of identity, community and belonging.
Screening information can be found in TIFF’s online schedule: www.tiff.net/schedule
