While France’s Cannes Film Festival and New York’s Tribeca Film Festival have been felled by the pandemic, the Toronto International Film Festival announced Wednesday that it planned to go forward with socially distanced screenings for its films in September.
Organizers of the festival, which usually offers the first chance to see some potential Oscar contenders, said the 2020 event would be a smaller affair with fewer films — 50 new features compared with its typical 250 to 400 — and a mix of physical, outdoor, drive-in and digital screenings.
The festival unveiled the first eight films on Wednesday, which included Halle Berry’s directing debut, the mixed martial arts-focused “Bruised.” Also on the schedule are “Ammonite,” which stars Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet as lovers; “Concrete Cowboys” with Idris Elba; and “Good Joe Bell,” starring Mark Wahlberg. The opening-night film is set to be announced later this summer.
All 50 titles will premiere as physical, socially distanced screenings over the first five days of the 10-day festival, which is set for Sept. 10-19. Virtual red carpets, interactive talks, cast reunions and Q&As with cast members and filmmakers will also be in the mix.
Organizers said the in-person plans would be contingent on getting the all-clear from government health officials. Large gatherings of more than 250 people are still banned in Canada, and even if they are reinstated, American filmgoers may still be out of luck: The border, which is closed until at least July 21, may still be shuttered in September.
The Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, which like Toronto is considered an important stop on the path to the Oscars, also plans to hold a physical event, set for Sept. 4-7, as does the Venice Film Festival, Sept. 2-12. The next Academy Awards have been postponed two months until April 25.
The year-round Toronto organization, whose headquarters and cinemas have been closed since March, announced earlier this week that it would lay off 31 full-time employees because of financial hardships amid the pandemic. The festival is projecting that in 2020 it will take in only half of last year’s annual revenue.
Ontario, the province where Toronto is located, has recorded 33,853 cases and 2,619 deaths from the coronavirus as of Wednesday.
The 45-year-old festival is one of the largest publicly attended such events in the world and attracts more than 480,000 people each year. Oscar-winning films like “Green Book” and “The King’s Speech” have premiered at the event. Last year’s lineup included “Knives Out,” “Jojo Rabbit” and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
