The start of the 2020s presented TIFF with the gravest existential threats in its history. The COVID-19 pandemic forced an 18-month closure of the TIFF Lightbox. Cancelled schedules, vanished audiences and lost revenues place immense pressure on the organization.
When the festival re-emerges in September 2020 and 2021, it does so in limited, hesitant ways: fewer films, smaller crowds and a pervasive sense of concern about the future. In 2023, TIFF鈥檚 troubles continue as two major Hollywood unions, representing actors and writers, go on strike. This greatly reduces the star presence, although a large international talent contingent still makes the trek to Toronto.
Cameron Bailey It was terrifying when we closed our doors in mid-March of 2020. They were essentially closed, apart from opening briefly for distance screenings during the festival in 2020 and 鈥21, for 18 months during the pandemic. We had a lot of time to think.
We got online within three weeks. We were doing at-home events: an Instagram conversation with Julie Delpy, the people from 鈥淭he Princess Bride,鈥 Sarah Polley and others, then we鈥檇 show the movie. We cooked that up within days. We asked people to contribute to help keep the spirit of an organization like TIFF alive. And, in that moment, everybody said yes.
Mich猫le Maheux There have always been challenges at TIFF. We had postal strikes, courier strikes, airline strikes, TTC strikes. We had SARS and 9/11. The economic crisis of 2008 kicked our ass. We had a really hard time cutting 20 per cent out of the budget. Every leader is tested.
But the pandemic and the strikes were really interesting because organizations got lean quickly. They learned how to embrace digitization and streaming. That meant embracing the enemy because remember: streaming was the enemy. They learned what was important, and stripped the festival to its core.
Bailey The things we did coming out of the pandemic were game-changing: making all the TIFF Cinematheque screenings free for members; starting the Under 25 pass; creating the Varda Caf茅-Bar. All that stuff brought the building to life in a way we鈥檇 never seen before. There are lots more people in the building on a weekly or monthly basis. They鈥檙e way younger than they used to be, they spend more time here, and they seem to be having a lot of fun, too.
A $10 million grant from the federal government in 2022 keeps TIFF from the brink.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey speaks at a 海角社区官网press event. He led the festival through pandemic closures and industry strikes, helping TIFF adapt with digital programs and return to record attendance by 2024.
Sammy Kogan The Canadian PressHelena Jaczek (Member of Parliament, Markham-Stouffville; former minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for southern Ontario) In 2020 and 2021, TIFF had transitioned to mostly digital screenings, and that led to lost revenue for the festival and the local tourism sector. Festivals and events are a major contributor to Canada鈥檚 economy, bringing millions of visitors each year. The ripple effects of those activities are vital to supporting our tourism and hospitality sectors, but COVID had seriously disrupted that. Our government was committed to helping revitalize those major events and festivals to provide a boost to Canada鈥檚 hard-hit tourist industry and local economies.
I don鈥檛 remember it being a difficult decision (to assist TIFF). Before the pandemic, it was attracting more than 700,000 visitors and generating more than $114 million in economic activity. There was a willingness to invest in the festival, to help it get back on its feet.
In 2024, the festival rebounds with a record attendance of 706,000 people 鈥 and an economic impact figure TIFF now estimates to be $240 million annually. Among its strong slate of films is 鈥40 Acres,鈥 a dystopian horror movie by first-time 海角社区官网filmmaker R.T. Thorne.
R.T. Thorne To have the world鈥檚 greatest film festival in your hometown, one that I鈥檝e been going to for 20 years as a film lover and audience member, makes it feel like you鈥檙e dreaming. Then for them to give us a Special Presentations slot, at TIFF Lightbox on the first weekend, was just mad! The tickets sold out in four minutes. There鈥檚 nothing like a TIFF audience. At the end people were crying, applauding. I鈥檒l never forget that.
Guillermo del Toro The festival has truly maintained its values from the beginning, not just to bring world cinema to Toronto, but to keep it being an audience enshrinement festival. I say this very carefully because I do think that the great prize in that festival is the audience. I live it every time I do a master class at TIFF. But you live it in a much more emotional way when you have a movie in the official selection. Canadians get emotional in hockey, traffic and movies.
Chaz Ebert In September 2023, I was onstage giving the TIFF Ebert Director Award to Spike Lee. By then, I had been going to film festivals for over 30 years. And I realized I had never seen this moment where a Black woman was giving an award to a Black director onstage at a film festival that was headed by a Black male with another Black director on stage, Barry Jenkins. The moment when I said it, even the air in the room seemed to change for me. At that moment, I realized it was historic. It was historic for all of us.
Thorne I hope TIFF is around for another 50 years to celebrate its hundredth. There are other forces at work 鈥 economic and political power 鈥 but the power of art is transcendent.
David Cronenberg I bask in TIFF鈥檚 power now when I go to other festivals. 海角社区官网is acknowledged as one of the major festivals of the world. To me, that鈥檚 validation of my whole past as a filmmaker in Toronto.
With $23 million in federal government backing, TIFF sets its sights on expanded global engagement through TIFF: The Market, an industry event debuting in September 2026. It鈥檚 designed to make 海角社区官网a major hub for buying and selling film, TV and immersive content.
Bailey So much has changed even since the pandemic. The rise of streaming and home viewing, new forms of storytelling, the fact that those walls between TV and movies pretty much collapsed. You鈥檝e got Cate Blanchett and all the biggest stars doing series as well as movies. There鈥檚 lots of volatility there. But the actual putting together of capital and storytelling and talent and then an audience 鈥 that hasn鈥檛 changed. That鈥檚 what I think we鈥檙e going to be able to deliver.
海角社区官网itself is almost unrecognizable from the city in which TIFF began, a shift reflected in the festival鈥檚 evolving place in global culture. Some argue TIFF itself is no longer recognizable as the festival it once was.
Piers Handling 海角社区官网in 1976 was a white-bread city. 海角社区官网in 2025 is more non-white than white, a huge difference. The city is more sophisticated in terms of the diversity of its tastes. It was a curious city in 1976, educated and wanting to know more about world cinema. In 2025, Torontonians are still curious, but they鈥檝e had 50 years of TIFF educating them about the nooks and crannies of world cinema.
Ron Base In the early days, the festival was cliquey, there鈥檚 no question about it. These were real characters, who were great fun but did the work that was necessary. It all seems a lot more corporate today.
The future for TIFF and cinema in general remains uncertain, especially with the coming technological advancements. Sarah Polley sees a way forward.
Sarah Polley I told Cameron Bailey recently that I鈥檓 taking a plumbing course in the fall. He looked surprised and I said, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e confused now, but in 20 years I鈥檓 going to have a good job and AI is going to be doing yours.鈥 Thankfully, he laughed.
That gives you some sense of where my head is in terms of the future of the industry. In the meantime, I have to believe that we鈥檒l always crave that communal experience, of sharing laughter, tears and silence with strangers.
I really think we鈥檙e in a golden age of brilliant artistic people running TIFF. If anyone can give this festival its best shot in this unpredictable world, it鈥檚 the people running it now.
And if they ever need any plumbing, I鈥檒l give them a discount.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation