TIFF names its new co-director
Vicente appointed co-head of film fest as it goes through big personnel changes
Less than 10 days before the start of the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, the group has announced Joana Vicente as its new executive director and co-head. Vicente’s position takes effect on Nov. 1, allowing outgoing director and CEO Piers Handling one more year at the helm of the festival.
Born in Portugal, Vicente has since 2009 served as executive director of the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), an organization of independent filmmakers in the U.S. There, she helped create the Made in NY Media Center, a 20,000-square-foot building with meeting and classroom space, editing facilities, screening rooms, galleries and a library.
Vicente also has producing credits on more than 40 films, the latest being Capharnaüm, from Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, which won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and has its North American première at TIFF.
“We are thrilled to welcome Joana to the new role and to the TIFF family,” said Jennifer Tory, TIFF’s chair. “The hiring committee was deeply impressed with Joana’s combined history as a producer, a champion of independent filmmakers, and with her success in fundraising and partnerships. Her extensive knowledge of the changing global film landscape solidified the decision.”
Vicente joins Cameron Bailey, current artistic director of the festival and co-head as of Oct. 1. “Joana thinks big and thinks globally, which makes her an ideal partner,” he said.
The festival is going through some major personnel changes. Earlier in August it was announced that longtime COO Michèle Maheux will leave the organization next summer after 30 years with TIFF. She will spend part of that time helping the transition to the new leadership team.
Though she won’t officially be on the payroll, Vicente will attend this year’s festival (Sept. 6 through Sept. 16) while continuing to oversee the IFP Gotham Awards, which take place Nov. 26 in New York City.
Vicente’s indie background should mesh well with TIFF’s ongoing mandate. Speaking to the National Post earlier this month, Handling noted: “The key festivals are gong to become more and more important for indie cinema; they’ll gravitate to the major fests that can make significant noise for them.”
He added that, by virtue of its awards-season-friendly fall date, Toronto should continue to dominate the festival scene. “I think Berlin and Cannes are starting to suffer because of the focus on awards season,” he said.
“They have significant challenges to maintain their relevance. Toronto is perfectly positioned. If you took Toronto out of that mix, there’d be such a huge hole. Toronto is the big amplifier. The media are here, the public are here, it’s a North American fest, it’s 10 times bigger than Telluride and four times bigger than Venice.”