TIFF backs away from movie premieres edict
Festival calls change ‘minor’ rather than ‘major reversal’
The Toronto International Film Festival confirms it is softening its tough stance on movie premieres, but calls the changes minor rather than the “major reversal” reported by U.S. media.
TIFF was responding to a story that broke late Wednesday, via industry journal the Hollywood Reporter, that said the festival is backing away from a rule instituted in 2014 that forced filmmakers and distributors to choose between the Toronto and Telluride festivals to premiere movies.
Instead of insisting that all films screening during TIFF’s first four days be either world or North American premieres, the edict will now apply only to screenings at the three top festival theatres: Roy Thomson Hall, Princess of Wales and the Elgin.
Other festival venues, including official headquarters TIFF Bell Lightbox, Ryerson Theatre and Scotiabank Theatre, will be allowed to show films regardless of their premiere status.
The Hollywood Reporter calls this a “major reversal,” but Pamela Mollica, TIFF’s director of communications, insisted the policy is simply being tweaked in response to concerns expressed over how it worked during last year’s festival.
“After the festival concluded, we reached out to a number of key stakeholders that were impacted by the policy and solicited their advice,” Mollica said in an official statement.
“Based on that feedback, we have made some minor adjustments to the policy to ensure that Toronto continues to do what is best for the filmmaker and the film while at the same time providing Toronto audiences with a fantastic festival experience.”
The change to the policy, which last year affected the Toronto debuts of Oscar-nominated films The Imitation Game and Foxcatcher, among others, is seen as a compromise to quell concerns that TIFF was unfairly limiting the release options of films and also beating up on the significantly smaller Telluride fest, which runs over Labour Day weekend in the Colorado mountain town.
But the Hollywood Reporter also warns that a new fight might be brewing, over TIFF’s plans to create a jury award similar to the Palme d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Other rival fests, including the Venice Film Festival, could view that as unfair competition, the journal said.
This year’s TIFF runs Sept. 10-20.