Piers Handling is entering the busiest month on his calendar, and will soon face 10 days that would flatten most event organizers. But we’re talking about the Toronto International Film Festival, which is in many ways his baby. It is Handling’s 21st year with TIFF, and his ninth as the festival’s director. He’s seen it all by now, but with high expectations stemming from last year’s success and TIFF 2003 coming on the tail end of the SARS scare, Handling says he is feeling more than the usual pressure.

‘I know people thought Cannes was kind of underwhelming this year, so that always makes you a bit nervous about what will happen in the fall,’ he says. ‘But I think the lineup of films is as strong as last year and many people have said that last year’s lineup was the best they’d ever seen.’

The film lineup is just one of many elements of TIFF Handling oversees, and he is ready to defend the choice of Denys Arcand’s already-released The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares) as the festival’s opening night gala. Because the film has already screened in Cannes and has been raking in box office receipts in Quebec for the last couple of months, Handling says Invasions is a certified crowd pleaser. And although it was chosen despite the fact that festival-goers expect to see a world, North American or at least Canadian premiere opening the fest, Handling reminds critics that there are no rules at TIFF.

Invasions supreme

‘I think this is a supreme example of Canadian filmmaking at its best,’ says Handling. ‘It’s a film that is both extremely funny and emotional at the same time, and it touched a lot of bases that the opening night audience will clearly be satisfied with.’

Handling says there were other strong Canadian films to choose from, and most of those have been programmed into the Perspective Canada showcase. Math whizzes who follow the festival will have calculated that this is the 20th anniversary of Perspective Canada, but Handling says the TIFF committee is going to hold off the benchmark celebration until the program’s 25th.

Handling readily admits that if the festival had been a few months ago at the height of the SARS scare, he would not be nearly as ‘happy and confident’ as he is now heading into TIFF. ‘I think the international industry and our American friends were all monitoring the situation, but since we haven’t had a case for months now, [SARS] is out of sight and out of mind,’ says Handling.

He is encouraged by the fact that in mid-August the festival’s public box office was ahead of where it was at the same time last year, and the festival’s ‘industry budget’ was met much earlier than expected.

‘I always thought the public side of the festival… would be fine,’ says Handling. ‘I was nervous about the industry side, so the fact that we hit budget three weeks before the festival starts is a very positive sign.’

He says he feels some responsibility to keep the international media spotlight pointed at Toronto after the Rolling Stones’ so-called ‘SARSstock’ concert at the end of July, and hopes the festival can further assist Toronto escape the stigma by attracting big names, international media and star-gazers.

‘For us to produce a ‘normal’ festival that goes off faultlessly with the level of talent we’ve attracted to this city in the last four or five years would clearly be a huge win for Toronto,’ says Handling. ‘Media come from around the world.’

Which is not to say this year’s TIFF hasn’t already been marked by controversy. The rival Montreal World Film Festival has moved some of its dates to overlap with the Toronto fest. Handling is clearly not amused, and has filed a complaint with FIAPF, the international producers association that sanctions many of the major film fests.

‘This was an arbitrary, unilateral move, and the fact that two film festivals in Canada are sharing the same dates doesn’t make any sense to us,’ says Handling. ‘There was absolutely no consultation, and it surprised us. We have not shared dates for 20 years. Festival schedules are very fixed. Other festivals have tried to move their dates and when they do they consult with the festivals that are closest to them.’

He uses the example of when Cannes was thinking of moving its fest to the fall about a decade ago and in doing so would have had to share dates with Venice. It didn’t happen. As it stands, both Canadian festivals are set to go ahead with their scheduled dates – Aug. 27 to Sept. 7 for WFF, and Sept. 4-13 for TIFF.

But an issue about four overlapping days will not ruin what Handling expects to be a stellar year for TIFF, a festival with expectations as high as its profile.