Each September, the movie industry takes over Toronto with the Toronto International Film Festival. The event is undeniably overwhelming (though usually in the best possible way), but this year programmers are scaling back a little bit.
As first reported by the Globe and Mail and confirmed via a press release, this year's festival will have approximately 20 percent less films as organizers plan to scale back. They've reportedly dropped the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and the Isabel Bader Theatre as venues, and will no longer deliver the edgy Vanguard and location-centric City to City programs.
Speaking with the Globe, the festival's artistic director Cameron Bailey said, "We are trying to fine-tune the balance. We're always looking at the festival to see what's working and what needs to be improved."
The news comes following recent criticisms that TIFF has outgrown itself. Last year, the festival showcased 296 features, prompting Variety to write a piece asking "Has the Toronto Film Festival gotten too big for its own (or anybody's) good?"
To further push their renewed focus on curation, the festival has hired two new programmers. Kiva Reardon is set to program the Africa and the Middle East section, while Peter Kuplowsky will program Midnight Madness in place of veteran programmer Colin Geddes, who left the fest last month.
TIFF is set to take over Toronto once more this September.
As first reported by the Globe and Mail and confirmed via a press release, this year's festival will have approximately 20 percent less films as organizers plan to scale back. They've reportedly dropped the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and the Isabel Bader Theatre as venues, and will no longer deliver the edgy Vanguard and location-centric City to City programs.
Speaking with the Globe, the festival's artistic director Cameron Bailey said, "We are trying to fine-tune the balance. We're always looking at the festival to see what's working and what needs to be improved."
The news comes following recent criticisms that TIFF has outgrown itself. Last year, the festival showcased 296 features, prompting Variety to write a piece asking "Has the Toronto Film Festival gotten too big for its own (or anybody's) good?"
To further push their renewed focus on curation, the festival has hired two new programmers. Kiva Reardon is set to program the Africa and the Middle East section, while Peter Kuplowsky will program Midnight Madness in place of veteran programmer Colin Geddes, who left the fest last month.
TIFF is set to take over Toronto once more this September.
