The Sundance, Cannes Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival are three of the biggest and most important film festivals of the year—one of them takes place in our backyard. Whether you’re a huge film buff or a casual moviegoer, there are plenty of reasons for why you should care about TIFF.
- Awards Season
Do you like to keep a finger on the pulse of pop culture? Do you tune in to the Golden Globes and the Oscars? Well, you’re in luck. Many of the films that will be a part of those conversations premiere right here in Toronto. At last year’s Academy Awards, Julianne Moore went on to win the Best Actress Award for her work in Still Alice; which premiered at 2014’s TIFF. This is also true for 2011’s The King’s Speech, which debuted at TIFF and won best picture at the Oscars.
This year we have The Martian, Matt Damon’s space epic with a cast built for Best Picture. Eddie Redmayne premiered The Danish Girl, yet another movie that will likely propel him into the lead for Best Actor. Tom Hardy’s Legend, Christopher Plummer’s Remember, Brie Larson’s Room, Black Mass, Beasts of No Nation, and many, many more are the films that we are going to be talking about in February, and as a resident of Toronto, you can watch them all here at their world premieres (for really cheap prices, too!).
- The Star Power
Remember all those actors and actresses in the paragraph above? Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Jeff Daniels. Jessica Chastain. Kate Mara. Naomi Watts. Idris Elba. Johnny Depp. Emma Watson. Ryan Reynolds. Christopher Walken. Salma Hayek. Natalie Portman.
SO. MANY. STARS.
More important than seeing one of your favorite celebrities is all the information we get out of them at TIFF. Eddie Redmayne talked about the newest Harry Potter movie. Matt Damon said Jason Bourne could “kick the shit out of” Batman! Excited about a movie coming out in 2016 or 2017? Well, chances are the actors and actresses who are part of those projects spoke about them at TIFF.
- It is great for Toronto
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If you haven’t noticed, Toronto has been taking up a lot more international spotlight than usual in the last couple years. Sure, all the Rob Ford stuff wasn’t good attention, but the film industry has been doing more in Toronto than ever before.
This summer, one of the biggest movies of 2016, Suicide Squad, was all over Toronto. Emma Watson was literally inches
away from the UTM campus last winter when she was filming scenes for an upcoming movie at the church right by Dundas. Daniel Radcliffe’s romantic comedy What If, took place in and was filmed in Toronto. Plus, we can’t forget about the hit TV show Orphan Black. It may not be a movie, but the Toronto-based show is getting all kinds of attention with lead actress Tatiana Maslany’s recent Emmy nomination.
We are all fiercely proud of living in Toronto, and attention like TIFF gives us the opportunity to show the world why we love this city so much. So whether you are a movie buff or just a casual fan, you should be caring about TIFF and all the love it gives this great city.
