Except for the OTT platforms, everything associated with cinema has taken a severe hit because of COVID-19. Film festivals across the world have been invariably postponed. However, the organisers of the Toronto International Film Festival—which happens around September of every year—are confident that the show will go on this year as well.
According to reports, TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey has said that they are considering making the festival a hybrid one with both public exhibition and digital screening. TIFF is yet to devise a complete plan about the public screening but it has been assured that any such screening would stick to the guidelines of the government.
The Variety quoted Joana Vicente, the TIFF executive director and co-head, as saying, “Postponing is definitely not a possibility on the table right now. [Based on] everything that we are learning, things might get worse in October or November if there is a second wave.”
It looks like the organisers of the Toronto International Film Festival are stubborn in their resolve to conduct the festival this time even if the odds are against them.