Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has invited Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap to be amongst the 50 celebrated filmmakers and actors as ambassadors for the Festival. TIFF is set to occur from September 10 to September 19. The festival is said to be settling for digital screenings for the very first time along with having virtual red carpets becasue of the covid-19 pandemic. For the very first time, the audience will be expanded beyond Toronto with the help of the digital screenings.
The Bollywood duo are set to join celebrated international personalities such as Martin Scorsese, Alfonso Cuaron, Taika Waititi, Ava DuVernay, Rian Johnson, Denis Villeneuve, and actors Nicole Kidman, Nadine Labaki, Riz Ahmed, Isabelle Huppert and Zhang Ziyi.
This year marks the 45th edition of the TIFF gala and the organisers plan on screening 50 films during its first five days in physical theatres. The theatres will have socially-distanced screenings which will require approval from the health authorities of the city. It has also been mentioned that the audience will be able to opt for a drive-in cinema experience.
Cameron Bailey, the Artistic Director and Co-Head of the festival stated, “The pandemic has hit TIFF hard, but we’ve responded by going back to our original inspiration – to bring the very best in film to the broadest possible audience.”
“Our teams have had to rethink everything, and open our minds to new ideas. In countless video calls over the past three months we have rebuilt our festival for 2020 drawing on our five decades of commitment to strong curation, support for filmmakers and engagement with audiences. We have listened to this year’s urgent calls for greater representation of under-represented voices. You’ll see that this year at the festival.
And we have watched as audiences have embraced cinema’s ability to transport them through screens of all sizes. You’ll see that too. We’re excited to present thoughtful, high-impact programming this September that reflects our belief that there’s no stopping great storytelling.”
The Executive Director and Co-Head of TIFF, Joana Vicente, also mentioned that,”TIFF has a proud history of programming award-winning films, expanding the conversation to include a multitude of voices, and in creating boundary-pushing initiatives for the industry. And this year we’ve added new innovations and ways to give back to the community. In doing so, we’re aiming to advance what a film festival is capable of delivering – for audiences and the film industry.”
“We could never have anticipated the global seismic changes we would be facing in 2020. We tapped into the original spirit of the festival from when it began in 1976 as our guiding light. The distilled edition of TIFF 2020 reflects a deep love of film, passion for our loyal audiences, commitment to the industry and a whole lot of heart.”
Source: Business Standard and The Hindu