It’s not the existence of too many Canadian films that preoccupies Piers Handling as the fest chief gears up for TIFF’s 36^th edition, but too few commercial slots to properly support and launch them in the theatrical marketplace.

“If we’re making 200 films a year, everyone should be able to make [their] film,” Handling (pictured at at Aug. 9 press conference) told Playback Daily, urging a continuing wellspring of creativity from Canadian filmmakers.

But the commercial future of Canadian films – sustaining this country’s creative output in filmmaking – has the TIFF chief scratching his head.

“As a country, we can only afford to market, release, get behind and pay for maybe 50 films,” Handling estimated.

He insists the Canadian industry needs to ask where the 150 films that are not properly supported and launched are being shown.

“Who are they being made for? Are they being made for the internet? How are they being distributed? Direct to pay TV, direct to TV or direct to DVD? Where’s the demand coming from?” he asked.

Betraying his roots as a film scholar, Handling doesn’t offer answers of his own, only a bid for more questioning and research.

“There’s never too much art. There’s never too much of anything. Film has a commercial aspect to it. But it’s more a question of how can we, as a culture, sustain the making of 200 films and have them seen by Canadians,” he questioned.

Here Canada is not alone. National cinemas everywhere face the challenge of seeing homegrown movies released in the marketplace.

“I think every country is grappling with this issue right now. There’s a surfeit of production, because it’s so easy to do digital features,” he argued.

Digital technology and the internet have enabled more Canadians to make films than ever before, especially first features where actors and technical crews will work for shoe-string wages, or not at all.

But it’s a filmmaker’s second or third feature – the encouragement and sustaining of their early careers – that has Handling questioning whether an industry can subsist on more than credit card financing and online distribution.

“A lot of people can do their own DIY films. But what are the future of these films, what are they adding to the debate, what are they adding to the marketplace, and what are they adding to the entertainment sector?” he added.