As the opening weekend of the Toronto International Film Festival draws to a close, I find myself asking just one question - where oh where are the Canadian films?
In comparison to some of the Festivals in recent memory, TIFF 2009 is relatively subdued. Sure, George Clooney, Drew Barrymore and Oprah have graced the Big Smoke for TIFF's opening weekend, causing Yorkville to resemble Disneyworld during March Break. Festival sweethearts like Pedro Almodovar, Michael Moore, Atom Egoyan and Jason Reitman are all screening their latest projects. Nevertheless, there is a perceptible, albeit subtle, shift in this year's Festival lineup.
One of these subtle shifts is the reduced presence of Canadian films in the Festival's Gala and Special Presentations lineups. Although the number of Canadian features screening at the Festival has remained the same as 2008 (29 of the Festival's 335 feature films are Canadian), their profile at the Festival seems to be somewhat diminished from years past. While screening in any part of the Festival is an honor, placement in the Gala or the Special Presentations lineup is typically viewed as a coup for a filmmaker.
TIFF veterans were shocked this year with the announcement that the tradition of programming a Canadian film as the opening night gala was being eschewed in favour of "Creation", a film by British director Jon Amiel. Many Festival-watchers had assumed that, "Chloe", the latest offering by veteran Canadian director Atom Egoyan would occupy the opening night spot.
Although the intention of the Festival's programmers may have been to pay homage to Darwin on the 200th anniversary of his birth, for many the move has been viewed as a kick in the face of Canadian cinema.
With that in mind, Empiremovies.com will be running a daily feature during this year's Festival called "Canada at the Film Festival", a profile of some of the homegrown Canadian talent being showcased at TIFF 2009. We are proud of our Canadian filmmakers, and we hope that you will enjoy reading about them too.
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