Come September, Toronto will host one of the most important film festivals on the planet.
Founded by William Marshall, with the assistance of Dusty Cohl and Henk Van Der Kolk, in 1976, it has become North America’s supermarket for producers, distributors, buyers and the media. Although the Cannes Film Festival may be larger, the Toronto Film Festival is considered an essential vehicle to launch films to the world markets.
In its first year, the Toronto festival operated on a tight budget of $221,000 and attracted some 35,000 participants. It presented 127 feature films, from 30 countries, spotlighted Canadian films and introduced aspiring directors and actors to the world.
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival has a much larger budget and will be held for a ten-day period from September 9 to 18, 2004.
It will bring together talented professionals of the industry, along with the indispensable number crunchers, investors, dreamers, promoters and wannabes. The city of Toronto and cinema fans from around the world will once again welcome this glittering, fascinating event.
Waterfront Magazine will cover the Festival with our entertainment columnist, Jennifer Ferns, who will be accompanied “on the job” by gifted Hollywood actor Louis Manylor, remembered for his hilarious portrayal of the temperamental brother in “ My Big Fat Greek Wedding”.
See you at the show!
