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Screenings Stopped at TIFF
Wednesday, September 12, 2001 12:00 AM EDT
The Toronto International Film Festival ground to a halt Tuesday as attendees huddled in horror and amazement around large TV screens in hotel lobbies, watching the terrible events unfold in the U.S.
A somber fest director Piers Handling held a brief press conference early on canceling all Q&A sessions with talent, any screenings that hadn't already begun, and other events for the day as some feared the entire fest, due to run until Sept. 16, would be nixed.
By the afternoon, Handling had ruled that things would kick back into gear today but added that some screenings might not run if organizers had trouble receiving prints from the U.S. -- international flights were not due to resume until midday today.
He said security at the fest had been beefed up, without offering specifics. Twenty-eight screenings were canceled, including the gala North American preem of Venice Gold Lion winner "Monsoon Wedding."
"It was respectful to cancel events for the day," Handling said. "But we decided that it was not necessary to cancel the rest of the festival. All of us are reeling from this and we're still trying to gauge the temperature in terms of the will to continue."
At the very least, it will give worried execs in Toronto something to do. "Everybody's stuck," an employee at the press office said. "The festival and the hotels are working together to try to accommodate the people who were planning to leave today but can't."
The fest organizers have provided a trauma response team from Employee Assistance Program specialists Warren Shepell Consultants at the Park Hyatt Hotel, the Fest's HQ, to assist staff and guests who need counseling.
Approximately 2,500 industryites, 1,000 guests, filmmakers, talent, 700 buyers and sellers and 750 members of the press are in Toronto for the 26th annual fest.
Source: Variety
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