The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the 45th event in the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

series, was held from September 10 to 21, 2020. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto The COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Toronto is the most populous city in Can ...

, the festival took place primarily on an online streaming platform, although limited in-person screenings still took place within the constraints of

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dis ...

restrictions.Victoria Ahearn
"TIFF still planning some type of physical festival, execs say"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

, May 28, 2020. Officially the festival concluded on September 19, with the final film premieres and events taking place that day; however, due to the 48-hour rental period applying to film viewings on the online platform, the festival platform remained open until September 21 to honour tickets purchased on closing day.

Planning

The festival's executive director

Joana Vicente Joana Vicente is a Portuguese independent movie producer and executive. A prominent figure in the New York film industry, Vicente has produced over forty films with her producing partner and husband Jason Kliot. In 1999 Vicente and Kliot produced ...

and artistic director Cameron Bailey spoke about the festival's plans in a video conference call launching the international We Are One: A Global Film Festival; Bailey also discussed some of the festival's plans in an interview on ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

's'' "Screen Talk" podcast.Peter Howell
"What will TIFF 2020 look like?"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', May 28, 2020. Plans 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 The 73rd annual Cannes Film Festival was scheduled to take place from 12 to 23 May 2020. On 13 January 2020, Spike Lee was named as the president of the Jury. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, festival management announced on 14 A ...

, and efforts to capitalize on the resurgence of

drive-in theater A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movi ...

s by staging some live screenings at drive-in venues. In a joint statement with the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

, the

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...

and the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

, 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 would 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 would 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. The digital platform included both a professional option for international critics and industry, and a public option available only to Canadian viewers; ticket prices were the same regardless of whether the viewer was attending a physical screening or watching the film online. The industry platform also included an additional program of 30 films not part of the official public program, designed to act as a film market due to the pandemic-associated shutdown of international travel.Jeremy Kay
"‘After Love’, ‘Saint-Narcisse’, among 30 sales titles to join TIFF industry roster"
'' Screen Daily'', September 1, 2020. Venues for the festival included the

TIFF Bell Lightbox TIFF Bell Lightbox is a cultural centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the first five floors of the Bell Lightbox and Festival Tower on the north west corner of King Street and John Street. TIFF Bell Lightbox features five cinemas, two ...

, with social distancing strategies in place, as well as two outdoor screens at

Ontario Place Ontario Place is an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toronto. ...

and one at

Polson Pier Polson Pier, previously known as The Docks Waterfront Entertainment Complex (or simply The Docks), is a multi-purpose entertainment complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the largely industrial Port Lands area of the city along the w ...

. The

Isabel Bader Theatre The University of Toronto is made up of several academic and administrative buildings at each of its three campuses. St. George Campus Scarborough Campus Mississauga Campus Demolished/Former Buildings {, class="wikitable sortable" , ...

was initially announced as one of the screening venues, but was removed from the event calendar due to social distancing restrictions remaining in place at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

.Jeremy Kay
"TIFF adds special events including new edition of Planet Africa, live talks series"
'' Screen Daily'', August 25, 2020. Initially, organizers announced that in-person film screenings would be "masks optional", but were criticized for creating a potential superspreader event as the social nature of the festival could increase the risk for COVID-19 transmission. The festival reversed the decision within 24 hours, citing a surge of new cases in Ontario, and made masks mandatory at the physical screenings. With a smaller than normal program, both festival programmers and critics noted that films which have a tendency to be overlooked at a normal TIFF, such as documentaries and titles by emerging film directors in the Discovery program, could potentially have a better chance than usual of standing out and gaining attention. In 2021, Bailey and Vicente indicated that although the 2020 festival saw reduced ticket sales compared to 2019, it was simultaneously the most successful event in the festival's entire history in terms of business activity and sales to film distributors.Barry Hertz
"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’s hybrid event"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', May 3, 2021.

Ambassadors

Due to the unprecedented nature of the 2020 festival, and the fact that celebrities and filmmakers were largely not able to attend the festival in person, the festival announced a roster of 50 "TIFF Ambassadors", actors and filmmakers who helped to promote the festival through interactive digital experiences and events.

Awards

TIFF Tribute Awards

The festival presented the

TIFF Tribute Awards The TIFF Tribute Awards are an annual award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to honour distinguished achievements in filmmaking. Unlike the festival's regular awards, which are presented based on audience or jury voting during ...

, which were introduced in 2019 to honour actors and filmmakers for distinguished achievements over the course of their careers. Honorees in 2020 included

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

Chloe Zhao Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root ', which relates to the colors yellow and green. T ...

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spher ...

and

Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films, particularly period dramas, and for her portrayals of headstrong and complicated women, she has received numerous accolades, incl ...

. For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast live by

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...

, and was hosted by Tyrone Edwards and Chloe Wilde of CTV's '' eTalk''.

Regular awards

Award winners were announced on September 20. The People's Choice Awards were still presented in all three categories; due to the reduced number of films in the Documentary and Midnight Madness streams, only winners were named for those awards rather than runners-up, although first and second runners-up were still named for the main People's Choice award. However, some of the juried awards were suspended, or presented in a different form than usual; notably, the

Platform Prize The Platform Prize is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to films of "high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision."Best Canadian First Feature Film was not presented due to the limited number of eligible films. Canadian singer-songwriter

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian pop singer. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gert ...

, in association with TIFF, announced the creation of the Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award, which awards filmmakers who create films with a social message.

Films

American Utopia ''American Utopia'' is the tenth studio album by Scottish-American rock musician David Byrne, released on March 9, 2018 through Todo Mundo and Nonesuch Records. The release is his first true solo studio album since 2004's '' Grown Backwards'' ...

'' by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

was announced as the festival's opening film. The festival also screened Chloé Zhao's film ''

Nomadland ''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand ...

'', as part of a special arrangement which saw the film open 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 final announcement of short films and special events took place on August 25.

Gala presentations

Special presentations

Contemporary World Cinema

Masters

TIFF Docs

Discovery

Short Cuts

Midnight Madness

Planet Africa

Primetime

Wavelengths

Special Events

Industry Selects

The Industry Selects program was a film market for films seeking commercial distribution. Due to the pandemic, which prevented members of the North American film industry from travelling to international film festivals where many of the following films were screened, they were available on the festival's industry platform, but not on the commercial platform for the general public.

Canada's Top Ten

TIFF's annual

Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema" ...

list, its national critics and festival programmers poll of the ten best feature and short films of the year, was released on December 9, 2020.Victoria Ahearn
"Toronto International Film Festival releases Top Ten lists for 2020"
. ''

Squamish Chief The Stawamus Chief, officially Stawamus Chief Mountain (often referred to as simply The Chief, or less commonly Squamish Chief), is a granitic dome located adjacent to the town of Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. It towers over above the w ...

'', December 9, 2020.

Feature films

*''

Beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

'' —

Tracey Deer Tracey Penelope ''Tekahentakwa'' Deer (born February 28, 1978, Mohawk nation, Mohawk) is a screenwriter, film director and newspaper publisher based in Kahnawake, Quebec. Deer has written and directed several award-winning documentaries for Rezol ...

*''

Fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

'' —

Nicolás Pereda Nicolás Pereda (born 1982) is a Mexican-Canadian film director. To date, he has directed nine features and three short films. Personal life Pereda was born in Mexico City in 1982; he holds dual Mexican and Canadian citizenship and is a resid ...

*'' Funny Boy'' — Deepa Mehta *'' Inconvenient Indian'' —

Michelle Latimer Michelle Latimer is a Canadian actress, director, writer, and filmmaker. She initially rose to prominence for her role as Trish Simkin on the television series ''Paradise Falls'', shown nationally in Canada on Showcase Television (2001–2004). ...

*'' Judy Versus Capitalism'' —

Mike Hoolboom Michael Hoolboom (born 1 January 1959) is a Canadian independent, experimental filmmaker. Having begun filmmaking at an early age, Hoolboom released his first major work, a "film that's not quite a film" entitled ''White Museum'', in 1986. Alth ...

*''

The Kid Detective ''The Kid Detective'' is a 2020 Canadian mystery comedy-drama film written and directed by Evan Morgan and starring Adam Brody, Sophie Nélisse, Wendy Crewson, Sarah Sutherland, and Tzi Ma. ''The Kid Detective'' was screened in the industry pr ...

'' — Evan Morgan *''

Nadia, Butterfly ''Nadia, Butterfly'' is a 2020 Canadian sports drama film, directed by Pascal Plante and released in 2020. The film stars Katerine Savard as Nadia, an Olympic swimmer struggling to redefine her life after retiring from the sport at the conclus ...

'' — Pascal Plante *'' The Nest'' —

Sean Durkin Timothy Sean Durkin (born December 9, 1981) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. He won the Dramatic Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for ''Martha Marcy May Marlene''. His short film, ''Mary Last Seen'', on ...

*''

No Ordinary Man ''No Ordinary Man'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Tracy Byrd. It features the singles "The First Step", "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous", "Watermelon Crawl", and "The Keeper of the Stars", all of which reac ...

'' —

Chase Joynt Chase Joynt is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, video artist, actor, and professor. He attracted acclaim as co-director with Aisling Chin-Yee of the documentary film ''No Ordinary Man (film), No Ordinary Man'' (2020),Pat Mullen"Canada at Cannes: Docum ...

Aisling Chin-Yee Aisling Chin-Yee (born 1982) is a Canadian film director, writer, and producer, who works primarily in Montreal and Los Angeles. In addition to her work as a producer, Chin-Yee directed the films '' The Rest of Us'' (2019) and ''No Ordinary Man'' ...

*'' Possessor'' —

Brandon Cronenberg Brandon Cronenberg (born January 10, 1980) is a Canadian director and screenwriter. He is David Cronenberg's son and Caitlin Cronenberg's brother. He is known for his science fiction horror films ''Antiviral'' (2012), '' Possessor'' (2020) and ' ...

Short films

*'' Aniksha'' —

Vincent Toi Vincent Toi is a Mauritian-Canadian film director.Marie-Annick Savripène"Vincent Toi: un besoin irrépressible de raconter…" '' L'Express'', January 28, 2017. He is most noted for his 2017 short film '' The Crying Conch'', which was named to the ...

*''

The Archivists ''The Archivists'' is a 2020 Canadian short drama film, directed by Igor Drljaca. Set in a dystopian future in which all art from the past has been banned, the film centres on William ( Noah Reid), Serena (Bahia Watson) and Samuel (Maxwell McCabe- ...

'' — Igor Drljaca *'' Benjamin, Benny, Ben'' — Paul Shkordoff *'' Black Bodies'' —

Kelly Fyffe-Marshall Kelly Fyffe-Marshall is a Canadian filmmaker best known for her 2020 two-part short film '' Black Bodies'', which won the Changemaker Award at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, and won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Actio ...

*'' êmîcêtôcêt: Many Bloodlines'' — Theola Ross *''

Foam Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the reg ...

(Écume)'' — Omar Elhamy *'' How to Be At Home'' —

Andrea Dorfman Andrea Dorfman (born October 29, 1968) is a Canadian screenwriter and film director based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She directed the Emmy Award films '' Flawed'' (2010) and ''Big Mouth'' (2012).Dorfman, Andrea. "Andreadorfman.com , About." Andrea ...

*''

Scars A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natu ...

'' — Alex Anna *''

Sing Me a Lullaby ''Sing Me a Lullaby'' is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Tiffany Hsiung and released in 2020.Rouven Linnarz"Short Film Review: Sing Me a Lullaby (2020) by Tiffany Hsiung" ''Asian Film Pulse'', September 13, 2020. The film documents ...

'' —

Tiffany Hsiung Tiffany Hsiung is a Canadian documentary filmmaker. She is most noted for her 2016 documentary film '' The Apology'', which won a Peabody Award in 2019, and her 2020 short documentary film ''Sing Me a Lullaby'', which won the Share Her Journey aw ...

*'' Stump the Guesser'' —

Guy Maddin Guy Maddin (born February 28, 1956) is a Canadian screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer, and film editor of both features and short films, as well as an installation artist, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since completing his first film i ...

, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson

References

External links

*
2020 Toronto International Film Festival
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{TIFF , state=collapsed

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

2020 in Toronto 2020 in Canadian cinema