Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) CEO Cameron Bailey says the organization’s 50th year will be as much about looking back as it will be looking forward as they gear up to launch the content market in 2026.

“The landscape of the industry has changed so much in that time, even the last 10 years. And of course, Toronto has changed too,” he tells Playback Daily. “So we’re also looking into the future in terms of how we want to keep growing and evolving.”

Bailey says the alignment of the 50th year and the content market planning “gives us this big opportunity to reassert what TIFF can contribute to our city, to this country, to the world,” adding that TIFF plans to be a “big booster” for Canada’s film industry.

While plans for the market are largely under wraps, chief programming officer Anita Lee previously told Playback that TIFF has been speaking with Canadian stakeholders and cultural organizers about their presence in the market. Some of the possible initiatives vary from project markets, talent initiatives and works-in-progress salons.

Bailey says there are a “whole range” of filmmakers in Canada who are “taking the pulse of our nation” through features, documentaries and shorts. Part of that is due to what he characterizes as a surge in storytelling from Indigenous filmmakers in Canada, which he credits to the work of organizations such as the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and ImagineNATIVE.

In September, the ISO said TIFF programmed an “unprecedented 15 Indigenous titles” from Canada and around the world. Among them, the ISO directly supported seven, including the features Aberdeen, co-directed by Ryan Cooper and Eva Thomas, and Seeds from director Kaniehtiio Horn.

Bailey points to Sophie Deraspe as a filmmaker TIFF has been keeping an eye on out of Quebec. Her latest film, Shepherds, made its world premiere at TIFF earlier this year, as did her 2019 film Antigone, which was Canada’s 2020 Oscars pick. Both Shepherds and Antigone won TIFF’s Best Canadian Feature Film Award in their respective years at the festival.

This year’s festival also had its share of controversy, thanks to protests around the documentary Russians at War, leading to TIFF delaying its North American premiere until after the festival due to safety concerns. The use of Canadian public funds to partially finance the doc was criticized by several government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

“As we approach our 50th edition, I’ve been going back and looking at our early history and, in our early years, we often found ourselves presenting films that were controversial,” says Bailey, adding that it was “often government agencies” that would be upset about certain screenings, rather than audience members.

“What I learned from going back to that history is the vital importance of really strong ethical thought when it comes to presenting films,” he continues. “We put a lot of careful thought and diligence into selecting the films we show. And when we do that, we really want people to see them before they’re going to form an opinion about them. That didn’t really happen with Russians at War.”

Looking ahead to the 50th celebration, Bailey says TIFF will weave the anniversary into its usual operations with the help of corporate partners, donors and the government.

“This is not planned at all to be a costly celebration. We, like just about everybody else in the cultural sector, have been through some tough years in the last half decade,” says Bailey. “We understand the absolute need for prudence and efficiency when it comes to managing costs, so what we’re planning to do is turn what we would ordinarily be doing towards a 50th edition celebration without a lot of additional costs.”

Despite the financial difficulties, Bailey says he’s “heartened” by the volume of audiences at TIFF’s flagship Lightbox theatre, specifically by the number of young people buying tickets. Recently, the Lightbox saw a full house for its retrospective on Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir and the historical drama Nickel Boys from U.S. director RaMell Ross.

Part of the strategy to attract young audiences included free Cinematheque screenings for TIFF members and a pass for moviegoers under 25.

“We’ve seen an uptick in our audiences, even from numbers before the pandemic, which is great,” says Bailey. “We just have to keep them engaged and keep giving them stuff that they love.”

Photo by Luis Mora