Filmmakers James Schamus, Atom Egoyan and Hirokazu Kore-eda have led tributes from across the industry to Noah Cowan, the influentional former director of Toronto International Film Festival who died last week.
Former TIFF colleagues, long-time business partner John Vanco and key figures from the film industry, festivals and arts institutions also paid tribute to Cowan, who died aged 55 on January 25 in Los Angeles, after an illness.
Veteran US producer Schamus said: “Noah’s resume oddly conceals as much as it reveals. It would be easy for us to confuse his job titles and his professional achievements. But Noah was more than just one of the most important curators and institution builders, distributors and grantors of our time. He will be missed. He’ll be sorely missed.”
Japanese filmmaker
Kore-eda, who won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2018 with Shoplifters, credits Cowan with helping him breakthrough internationally after inviting his film After Life to TIFF in 1998. He said, “Noah was a champion AfterLife” and that if he hadn’t met me, and if my film had not been invited to Toronto, it would have changed my career.” Noah, rest in peace. Rest in peace, Noah.”Oscar-nominated director
Egoyan, who has been a regular at TIFF for more than 30 years, said: “I first met Noah when I was in my first year at college and he was being babysat by a friend. Although he was too old for a baby, he grew to be one of my best friends, the smartest, most wittiest, and wisest. This is a huge loss”Vanco
, with whom Cowan co-founded New York-based distributor Cowboy Pictures in 1993, said: “Noah was my best friend and business partner for many years. I will miss him forever.”Lizzie Francke
, editor-at-large for the UK’s BFI Film Fund, recalled forming a friendship with Cowan more than 25 years ago. She described him as a great talker, fearless, curious, and “an even greater doer”. I’ll miss him forever.”
Lizzie Francke, editor-at-large for the UK’s BFI Film Fund, recalled forging a friendship with Cowan more than 25 years ago and described him as curious, fearless, a great talker and “an even greater doer”.
“I don’t believe I will ever meet anyone so extraordinary again in my lifetime, certainly not in the arts world,” she said. “But I hope there is a young child with an inquisitive brain, a dashing charm and an enthusiastic and stunning delight in humanity who will learn how to push and pull at culture flow, who will challenge us all through their sheer brilliance and enjoyment of what we do. Noah was and remains all that.” (See below for Franke’s full tribute)
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey looked back on the long association Cowan had with the festival, from starting as a teenage volunteer to becoming the first solo programmer for its Midnight Madness section, co-director of the festival and artistic director of TIFF Bell Lightbox
“Beyond his resume, Noah still stands for me as a unique, blazing fire in the film world,” said Bailey. “I never met anyone quite like him. He was funny, rude, loud and sentimental, and he was deeply informed about the most amazing things. He could talk about Japanese trash movies and high-art cinema. He was a fan of Zacharias Kunuk and Hollywood auteurs. His friends were all from around the world and reflected his passion for life.
His passion for all things new, exciting, and cool was put to the service of our audience. Noah Cowan, a former director of TIFF, challenged us to go higher and to be bolder. I hope we can continue to nurture some of his spirit.”
Helga Stephenson, another former director of TIFF, said: “Buoyed by his brilliant mind and boundless energy, Noah’s passion for film, his unique connection to filmmakers and audiences lit up the world of international film for a long time. He leaves a huge vacuum. He leaves a very large vacuum.”
Jonathan King, producer of Oscar winners Spotlight and Roma, and co-founder of LA-based Concordia Studio, said: “Noah always embraced film like he embraced life, with the wise insight of someone twice his age combined with the enthusiastic curiosity of a teenager. His taste was impeccable, but his generosity to others was unrestricted. I relied on him over the years for both. I will miss his joyful, inspiring presence.”
Canadian filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal of Mercury Films was championed by Cowan in 2006 when her documentary Manufactured Landscapes played at TIFF. She said that Noah Cowan was a fixture in the international film industry. He was a connector, a trailblazer, and a passionate cinephile who was always brimming full of ideas and projects. She said that he will be missed.
US indie film executive Bob Berney, CEO at LA-based marketing firm Picturehouse, said that Noah was an incredible supporter and disruptor of cinema from all over the globe and a great friend. I’ve known him since the ’90s and there are so many wonderful memories from film festivals, cinema events, dinners and parties connecting people across the globe.”Rajendra Roy
, the Celeste Bartos chief curator of film at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, recalled: “As I told him this summer at a gathering in his honour, Noah inspired me and terrified me in equal measures. He was so confident, so articulate, and so firm in his conviction of his own rightness. He made me work harder to defend and pursue my passions and ideas. I will always be grateful that he was a part of my life.”Chris McKinnon
, president and CEO of Hot Docs, also expressed his gratitude, saying: “What a great loss. Noah was a remarkable friend, colleague, and champion of world cinema. He was so generous in sharing his industry knowledge. He was beloved by so many and is irreplaceable.”Noah Cowan – a personal reminiscence
By Lizzie Francke
My friendship with Noah was forged during the Berlin and Rotterdam film festivals of 1997 over a mutual passion for Japanese horror and the revelation of Tsai-ming Liang, whose debut film
The River had sent us both into rhapsodies.New to the festival circuit, I soon learnt that running into Noah outside a screening was always the best happenstance. Noah used the words “We need to chat” and “You two must know each other” to connect his ever-growing circle of festival friends. There were also many good meals. Film. Fun. Food (and wine). TIFF 2001 was a monumental moment for programmers. Noah, with his clear-eyed urgency, reminded us that international cinema was more important than ever to foster cross-cultural understanding. While others turned their backs on the screenings that Friday, Noah was a champion for many films and people. But he also had an extraordinary integrity of approach. Eight years after our friendship began, the first film in the which I was involved debuted on an A-list festival. Rather than the euphemistic “You have done it” or empty congratulations of others, Noah took the time to discuss the film with intelligent, if sometimes blunt, consideration. Noah taught me a lot about programming, and I learned a lot about executive producing from him.
Noah was first drawn to films, but in the last few decades it was museum and gallery art that dominated our cultural conversations. Noah was full of curiosity and a brilliant mind, so his desire to share and relish exciting work remained with him until his final weeks. Full of curiosity, always making connections in that brilliant mind, Noah was dauntless about everything he looked at, whether art or people or the organisations to which he brought his attention.
That fearlessness extended to his acute desire to understand his illness – indeed it was typical of Noah that he sent his friends a power-point presentation about the glioblastoma multiforme when he shared the news of the diagnosis. He was also fearless in his approach to dying. This was something Noah shared with his friends with breath-taking ease.
I doubt I will ever see anyone like him again in my lifetime. But I do hope there is a young person with an inquisitive brain, a charming charm, and a beautiful delight in humanity who will push and pull at the cultural flow. They will be a challenger and advocate for us all and make us better people. Noah was and is all that.
