Toronto - TIFF will celebrate the City of Toronto’s 175th anniversary with a number of exciting initiatives taking place inside and outside the cinema, offering Torontonians the opportunity to experience the rich culture of the city, while showcasing the importance of the moving image.

Yonge-Dundas Square (YDS)
The Square will offer daily all-access programming and events for the whole family, including concerts, photo opportunities, kids’ activities and films, all free to the public. Complete YDS programming will be announced on August 11.

Future Projections The complete lineup of this year’s edition of Future Projections, the Festival’s moving-image art installations programme, will be announced on August 11. It will showcase Toronto-related work by some of Canada’s most celebrated artists and filmmakers.

Toronto 175 Anniversary Vignettes
Created to thank and commemorate the city, the Toronto 175 Anniversary Vignettes project captures the celluloid history of Toronto, featuring key documentary moments as well as excerpts from seminal fiction films. They will play as part of numerous screenings during the Festival as well as at Yonge-Dundas Square.

Toronto on Film
Toronto on Film is an anthology that examines the way the city has been presented in cinema and features an extensive essay by Toronto-based author Geoff Pevere. Pevere examines the different ways our filmmakers have looked at the country’s largest metropolis, with special attention to filmmakers like David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan and seminal works like Don Owen’s Nobody Waved Goodbye and Don Shebib’s Goin’ Down the Road, as well as an extended analysis of how filmmakers like Deepa Mehta and Srnivas Krishna have created an alternative, more magical view of the city. The anthology also includes contributions by Justin D. Edwards, Steve Gravestock, Piers Handling, Matthew Hays, Brenda Longfellow and Wyndham Wise. A book launch for Toronto on Film will also take place prior to the Festival.

Mary Pickford
William Beaudine’s Sparrows will screen as part of this year’s Canadian Open Vault and stars Toronto-native Mary Pickford, best known as America’s first sweetheart. The film is presented to mark the centenary of Pickford’s film debut.

Toronto on Film at TIFF Cinematheque
The celebrations will culminate this Fall with TIFF Cinematheque’s series Toronto on Film, which will feature films from five decades, including early, rarely screened work from the 1950s, as well as key films from the 1960s through to the current decade. The series will host numerous special guests.

More information on these events can be found at tiff.net.

TIFF’s Toronto 175 projects are supported by RBC, the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the OMDC.

About TIFF: TIFF is a charitable, not-for-profit, cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world. Its vision is to lead the world in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image. TIFF generates an annual economic impact of $67 million CAD and currently employs more than 100 full-time staff, 500 part-time and seasonal staff, and counts upon the largesse of over 2,000 volunteers year-round.

About TIFF Bell Lightbox: Currently under construction, TIFF Bell Lightbox, a breathtaking five-storey complex located in downtown Toronto, will provide a permanent home for film lovers to celebrate cinema from around the world and will propel TIFF forward as an international leader in film culture. Designed by innovative architecture firm KPMB, TIFF Bell Lightbox’s fluid structure encourages exploration, movement and play. The campaign to build TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by founding sponsor Bell, the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario, the King and John Festival Corporation – consisting of the Reitman family and the Daniels Corporation – RBC as major sponsor and official bank, Visa†, the Copyright Collective of Canada, NBC Universal Canada, the Allan Slaight Family, the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and CIBC. The Board of Directors, staff and many generous individuals and corporations have also contributed to the campaign. For more information on the TIFF Bell Lightbox campaign, visit belllightbox.ca.

-30-

For further information, contact the Communications Department at 416-934-3200 or by email at proffice@tiff.net.