2020 Toronto International Film Festival


The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the 45th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, is scheduled to be held from September 10 to 21, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, organizers have acknowledged that the event will "look different" than in past years, primarily by incorporating an online streaming component, but they have indicated that current plans still include some form of physical festival taking place if possible within the constraints of whatever social distancing restrictions are still in place by September.
The festival's executive director Joana Vicente and artistic director Cameron Bailey spoke about the festival's plans in a video conference call launching the international ; Bailey has also discussed some of the festival's plans in an interview on IndieWire's "Screen Talk" podcast. Plans have included efforts to act as a "united platform" to screen films that had been slated to premiere at other cancelled festivals such as the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and efforts to capitalize on the resurgence of drive-in theaters by staging some live screenings at drive-in venues. In a joint statement with the Venice Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, which along with TIFF are generally considered the "big four" autumn film festivals that often compete with each other to land major film premieres in a normal year, the organizers of all four festivals committed to a spirit of collaboration and unity, designed "to serve the filmmakers, audiences, journalists and industry members who keep the film ecosystem thriving."
On June 24, organizers indicated that a smaller program of 50 films will be screened in a conventional manner, using social distancing strategies such as drive-in or outdoor screenings, over the first five days of the festival, and will then remain available on a dedicated streaming platform for the remainder of the festival. The digital platform was launched in July 2020 as the Digital TIFF Bell Lightbox, with a curated selection of past TIFF films available for short-term digital rental in the weeks leading up to the festival.
With a smaller than normal program, both festival programmers and critics have noted that films which have a tendency to be overlooked at a normal TIFF, such as documentaries and "discovery" titles by emerging film directors, may have a better chance than usual of standing out and gaining attention.

Films

American Utopia by Spike Lee has been announced as the festival's opening film. The festival will also screen Chloé Zhao's film Nomadland, as part of a special arrangement which will see the film screen at TIFF, NYFF and Venice all on the same day.
The first batch of films slated for the festival was announced on June 24, 2020, and more were announced on July 30.
The selections of short films and virtual talks remain to be announced.

Gala Presentations