{"id":24907,"date":"2014-09-05T23:34:37","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T15:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=24907"},"modified":"2014-09-05T22:07:36","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T14:07:36","slug":"as-tiff-tightens-restrictions-why-do-world-premieres-matter-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/09\/05\/as-tiff-tightens-restrictions-why-do-world-premieres-matter-so-much\/","title":{"rendered":"As TIFF tightens restrictions, why do world premieres matter so much?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jeff<\/a>
Jeff Bridges at the premiere of “The Men Who Stare at Goats” at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Photo by Josh Jensen<\/a> \/ Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO\u2014It almost seems inconceivable now, but 27 years ago the very first audience to witness Rob Reiner\u2019s beloved swashbuckling fantasy \u201cThe Princess Bride\u201d was in Toronto.<\/p>\n

The same can be said of the 1994 prison epic \u201cThe Shawshank Redemption,\u201d still the top-rated film of all time among IMDB users. \u201cCrash\u201d careened through Toronto first in 2004 en route to a best picture win, \u201cSilver Linings Playbook\u201d swanned its first dance here and Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s 1997 masterpiece \u201cBoogie Nights\u201d also unzipped in the Ontario capital.<\/p>\n

The Toronto International Film Festival of course launched all those notable films, as it did \u201cRushmore,\u201d \u201cAlmost Famous,\u201d \u201cMoneyball,\u201d \u201cSideways,\u201d \u201cRay,\u201d and \u201cThe Big Chill.\u201d But in recent years, TIFF has been getting scooped by emerging competing cinematic buffets, including Venice, New York and, perhaps most significantly, Colorado\u2019s Telluride Film Festival.<\/p>\n

Each of the past seven Oscar winners for best picture\u2014\u201d12 Years a Slave,\u201d \u201cArgo,\u201d \u201cThe Artist,\u201d \u201cThe King\u2019s Speech,\u201d \u201cThe Hurt Locker,\u201d \u201cSlumdog Millionaire\u201d and \u201cNo Country for Old Men\u201d\u2014screened at TIFF, but they also screened somewhere else first.<\/p>\n

While the Toronto fest was once viewed as relatively laid-back when it came to jockeying for premieres, it tightened the rules in January, specifying that all films screening in the fest\u2019s first four days must be doing so for the very first time, at least in North America.<\/p>\n

The festival\u2019s artistic director, Cameron Bailey, has resolutely insisted that the policy hasn\u2019t influenced which films are selected, only when they\u2019re scheduled. He says the new edict has been about providing clarity for industry and public alike.<\/p>\n

But why so much focus on an issue\u2014world premieredom\u2014that ultimately becomes a piece of film trivia?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe launch of a work of art, the first time it\u2019s unveiled to to the public, is important for the artist,\u201d Bailey said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conditions of that, how that\u2019s done, where it happens, who\u2019s there, all of those things do matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the announcement and subsequent rollout of the festival\u2019s 2014 slate, whispers have echoed that the policy might have rankled distributors and filmmakers, leading to what some consider a weaker lineup than usual for the festival. Bailey firmly denies that\u2019s the case, arguing that the industry has \u201cresponded really well to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival has long operated with some measure of passive politeness even as it grew into a bona fide industry monolith\u2014and some filmmakers aren\u2019t surprised to see TIFF finally bare its teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s flexing your muscle and showing power and if I was them, I\u2019d do the same thing,\u201d said veteran director and overall provocateur John Waters in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cCannes is more about selling the world rights and Sundance is about getting a distributor. To me, Toronto\u2014and I\u2019ve loved the festival every time I\u2019ve been there\u2014is about having a hit and prestige but at the same time not being in the art ghetto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Oscar time!\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, TIFF\u2019s proven reputation as an Academy Award kingmaker grants some degree of leverage over other festivals.<\/p>\n

And yet, the downright unwieldy size of TIFF\u2014which will screen 393 films this year\u2014means that filmmakers trying to draw eyes (and potentially strike deals) with smaller movies might still prefer to roll out elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery filmmaker has to figure out what path serves their film best,\u201d said Mississauga, Ont., director Richie Mehta.<\/p>\n

Mehta\u2019s 2013 drama \u201cSiddharth\u201d debuted at Venice before arriving at TIFF. For the film\u2019s U.S. premiere, Mehta opted for the\u00a0South Asian\u00a0International Film Festival in New York, a \u201csmall … local cultural\u201d bash.<\/p>\n

It was there that he landed an \u201camazing U.S. theatrical distribution deal,\u201d and he\u2019s skeptical such a coup could have been achieved if the film had been toiling in the bowels of a more sprawling lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m convinced that if we had premiered at a bigger U.S. festival, we wouldn\u2019t have gotten that deal,\u201d he said. \u201cWe would have been lost for sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cA world premiere at TIFF is a wonderful thing,\u201d he added, \u201c(but) if it doesn\u2019t world premiere at TIFF and it\u2019s somewhere else, maybe that\u2019s exactly what your film needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industry aside, TIFF is always proudly trumpeted as the audience-friendly fest, a joyously inclusive celebration of cinema that thus stands in stark contrast to a comparatively inaccessible insider congregation such as Telluride.<\/p>\n

And some are skeptical that general filmgoers are even aware of whether they\u2019re witnessing a film\u2019s inaugural screening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho the (hell) goes to Telluride? Sixteen people?\u201d spat New York cult director Abel Ferrara in a recent chat.<\/p>\n

His Willem Dafoe-led biopic \u201cPasolini\u201d will screen at Venice shortly before it whisks through TIFF, a distinction he argues is basically meaningless.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re showing a week apart, five days apart. What difference does it make?\u201d he said. \u201cIs it a big deal if it\u2019s in Telluride instead of Toronto? I mean, Telluride\u2019s in the middle of nowhere. Who the (hell) even goes? I mean, I love that festival personally, but I like Toronto (too).\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, Bailey insists that the premiere issue should not be dismissed as a piece of insider irrelevance.<\/p>\n

In his mind, those intrepid filmgoers who brave long lines and steep prices do care whether or not each screening is a true cinematic event.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all moviegoers pay attention to this but I think some do,\u201d he said. \u201cFor some, in the same way as when an album drops or there\u2019s a new single released, or when your favourite author has a new book out, you\u2019re aware of that. You\u2019re aware of that day or that week when it happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some people who follow movies, they follow when a film launches and that does make a difference. For some of them, it\u2019s not all. But for some, that\u2019s a moment of excitement. … You\u2019re able to share that experience the first time it\u2019s unveiled to the public and be in the room with the filmmaker and be in the room with the actors, that\u2019s really exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat only happens once for a film. So I think there are some who do care about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director David Dobkin is one. His film, \u201cThe Judge,\u201d will open this year\u2019s Toronto International Film Festival, of course making its world premiere.<\/p>\n

He said his film\u2014which casts Robert Downey, Jr., as a slick lawyer who goes home to defend his estranged father from murder charges\u2014was offered slots at \u201cmany other\u201d festivals, but Dobkin chose Toronto.<\/p>\n

And, just to be clear, \u201cThe Judge\u201d won\u2019t first be whisked on a European vacation to Venice or sneaked into Telluride for a hush-hush \u201cpreview.\u201d He wants the world to know: the film\u2019s premiere will be in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like opening day for a sports team,\u201d he said of being among the first to experience a film. \u201cIt\u2019s not like … \u2018we played yesterday as well at the stadium but today we\u2019re calling the first day.\u2019 It has to be the real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPremieres used to be really important and you didn\u2019t see your movie stars and the directors and producers on social media all the time,\u201d added Dobkin, the director of \u201cWedding Crashers.\u201d \u201cIt was your choice to glimpse them having a night out (and) celebrating their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of has gotten walked on just by the volume of media and celebrity and all the other stuff that goes on now. So I think it\u2019s really important to find a way to recreate what a world premiere used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

With files from Canadian Press reporters Victoria Ahearn, Andrea Baillie and Laura Kane in Toronto.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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