Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) top brass said on Wednesday that in spite of the Hollywood double strike they are “continuing to plan for a memorable and high-profile festival from September 7 to 17″.
SAG-AFTRA strike rules state actors cannot walk red carpets or promote their films, which has given the festival, distribution and awards sectors plenty to think about.
In a letter to the industry CEO Cameron Bailey, chief programming officer Anita lee and senior director, industry and theatrical Geoff Macnaughton noted that more than 70% of festival selections are not from the United States.
The festival brass added they have been encouraged by talks with industry and have maintained “constant communication” with SAG-AFTRA representatives, and other fall festivals.
The letter emphasised TIFF’s role as a “thriving sales market”, adding that more than one-third of this year’s titles are available for acquisition.
For the first time the festival will open the doors of TIFF Bell Lightbox early on September 6 to host market screenings for international buyers.
Venice has been in talks with studios and streamers behind its selections as to whether they will pull their films due to SAG-AFTRA strike rules prohibiting actors to promote their work. Venice will announce its line-up for the festival on July 25. It previsouly said Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers starring Zendaya will open the festival.
Earlier today TIFF added Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils to its selection and previously announced that Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins will premiere in Toronto.
The full letter appears below:
TIFF recognizes that the impact of the SAG-AFTRA strike on the entertainment industry and film festivals like ours cannot be denied. We continue to plan a memorable festival from September 7-17. We are thrilled with the engagement of the industry to-date, as our registered delegate numbers are up 10% over 2022.
. We are delighted with the engagement from the industry so far, as our delegate numbers have increased by 10% since 2022.
. We are encouraged by our conversations with industry leaders, including SAGAFTRA representatives and our friends at other fall festivals. TIFF is a global film festival. This year, more than 70% of our titles were produced by non-U.S. producers from over 70 different countries. TIFF is a thriving market for sales. We will also have a robust offering of market screenings, and for the first time we will be opening the doors of TIFF Bell Lightbox early on September 6th to host market screenings for international buyers. Please email the Industry Team at [email protected] if you have any questions. If you have any questions please feel free to email the Industry Team at [email protected].
Best,
Cameron Bailey
Anita Lee
Geoff Macnaughton
Separately, TIFF said on Wednesday that industry attendance is expected to climb 10% on 2022 as it teased the the five-day Industry Conference running September 8-12.
The six pillars of the conference are Visionaries, Dialogues, Perspectives (on which
Screen is the media partner), Connections, Microsessions, and Spotlights.New initiative TIFF Sloan Science and Technology Project Pitch
launches under the auspices of Breakthroughs: The Sloan Science On Screen Programme. The program will give four Canadian and international filmmakers the chance to pitch their film project or episodic in front of an audience of industry experts. Each creator selected for the non-competitive pitch event will be awarded C$15,000 to develop their project and will receive mentorship from an expert pitch coach in advance of the event.‘Oppenheimer’: Review
