A street-level hub for the world’s favourite public film festival! Everyone is invited to celebrate this year’s Festival by attending our free outdoor programming, including a series of free screenings dedicated to the art of cinema, live at Yonge-Dundas Square. Visitors can learn more about the Festival by visiting an Information Desk, and capture a memento of their Festival experience at outdoor photo booths. This year’s Festival comes to a close with the first-ever Public Festival Wrap Party at Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday, September 13.
For a chance to win a pair of Visa Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre tickets and a one year Bell Lightbox Membership,
visit TIFF08 Bell Lightbox contest
FESTIVAL SHOWCASE
Film comes to life this year with special public performances and presentations by some of the artists and entertainers featured in this year’s films. Come and be inspired by the innovative and energizing music of Youssou Ndour; witness a mystifying and spectacular martial arts demonstration by Shaolin monks; flow with the sounds of jazz great Terence Blanchard; kick up your heels with cast members of A Chorus Line; watch some of Canada’s best dunkers show their stuff with an appearance by NBA phenom LeBron James; and much more!
MOVIES ON MOVIES
Help us celebrate film with free outdoor screenings dedicated to the art of cinema:
- Trace the history and art of cinematography in Visions of Light
- Walk (or tap) your way through the MGM musical vault in That’s Entertainment!
- Follow the evolution of film editing in EdgeCodes.com: The Art of Motion Picture Editing
- See the chaotic journey of the making of Apocalypse Now in Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
- Explore the evolution of sex and sexuality on film in The Celluloid Closet
- Discover the intriguing story of the American New Wave filmmakers in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock’N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
SCHEDULE
OF EVENTS
| THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2021 |
| 8:30pm |
Movies on Movies
Visions of Light : The Art of Cinematography |
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| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 |
| 8:30pm |
Chess Records Concert |
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| SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2021 |
| 12:30pm |
TIFF Invitational Slam-Dunk Competition with an appearance by LeBron James |
| |
| 8:30pm |
Youssou Ndour Concert |
| |
| SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2021 |
| 1:00pm |
Every Little Step Showcase Performance |
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| 4:00pm |
Witch Hunt Concert |
| |
| 8:30pm |
Movies on Movies
That’s Entertainment! |
| |
| MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 |
| 8:30pm |
Miracle at St. Anna Concert featuring Terence Blanchard |
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| TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 |
| 6:00pm |
Showcase Concert TBA |
| |
| 8:30pm |
Movies on Movies
EdgeCodes.com : The Art of Motion Picture Editing |
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| WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 |
| 6:00pm |
The Real Shaolin Live Martial Arts Showcase Demonstration |
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| 8:30pm |
Movies on Movies
Hearts of Darkness : A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse |
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| THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2021 |
| 5:30pm |
One Week Concert |
| |
| 8:30pm |
Movies on Movies
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls : How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ’N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood |
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| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 |
| 8:30pm |
Movies on Movies
The Celluloid Closet |
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| SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 |
| 8:00pm |
Festival Wrap Party featuring Esthero, The Midway State, and Cadence Weapon |
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FESTIVAL
SHOWCASE
CHESS RECORDS CONCERT: WHO DO YOU LOVE WITH KEB’ MO’
Keb’ Mo’ and others perform in support of Jerry Zaks’s film Who Do You Love, a a chronicle of the legendary blues and R&B label Chess Records. Keb’ Mo’s music is a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America, informing all of its musical roots before evolving into a universally celebrated art form.
Friday, September 5 at 8:30pm
INVITATIONAL SLAM-DUNK COMPETITION WITH AN APPEARANCE BY LEBRON JAMES
Catch the hoops actions in support of Kristopher Belman’s More Than a Game, a documentary about the journey of a remarkable high-school basketball team in Akron, Ohio, that included future NBA superstar LeBron James.
Saturday, September 6 at 1pm
I BRING WHAT I LOVE CONCERT WITH YOUSSOU NDOUR AND LE SUPER ETOILE
Straight from Dakar, Senegal, Youssou Ndour and the world-famous Le Super Etoile band will perform in a rare free public concert event in celebration of the film Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love, a music-infused journey that chronicles the power of one man’s voice to inspire change. Director Chai Vasarhelyi tells the story of this Grammy Award-winning artist who began humbly, with a desire to share his joy of music and his family’s socially conscious storytelling tradition.
Saturday, September 6 at 8:30pm
WITCH HUNT CONCERT, FEATURED ARTISTS TBA
Dana Nachman and Don Hardy’s documentary Witch Hunt chronicles the unravelling of a small Californian town’s justice system. This is a compelling study of tragic cases of wrongful conviction.
Sunday, September 7 at 4pm
MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA CONCERT WITH TERENCE BLANCHARD
Internationally renowned jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard created the score for Spike Lee’s latest feature, Miracle at St. Anna, and will perform in support of the film.
Monday, September 8 at 8:30pm
MARTIAL ARTS DEMONSTRATION
Shaolin monks present a martial arts demonstration in support of Alexander Sebastien Lee’s The Real Shaolin. Rich with dazzling displays of kung fu, The Real Shaolin follows two Chinese and two western students as they undergo a year of rigorous martial arts training at the Shaolin temple in Central China.
Wednesday, September 10 at 6:00pm
ONE WEEK CONCERT FEATURING MUSICAL GUESTS
EMM GRYNER AND GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS
Emm Gryner and Great Lake Swimmers will perform in support of Michael McGowan’s latest film, One Week.
Thursday, September 11 at 5:30pm
MOVIES
ON MOVIES
VISIONS OF LIGHT: THE ART OF CINEMATOGRAPHY
Renowned cinematographers including Vittorio Storaro, Nestor Almendros and László Kovács are featured in this compelling documentary that chronicles the history, the art and the power of cinematography. Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography showcases classics such as Birth of a Nation, Blade Runner, Citizen Kane and Do the Right Thing and includes sequences from more than 125 movies.
Thursday, September 4 at 8:30pm
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
The exuberant and critically acclaimed That’s Entertainment! spotlights MGM’s legacy of musicals from the 1920s through the 1950s, showcasing performances from dozens of the studio’s films, including Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Gigi and The Band Wagon, and featuring screen legends Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Bing Crosby, among others.
Sunday, September 7 at 8:30pm
EDGECODES.COM: THE ART OF MOTION PICTURE EDITING
This in-depth look at the history of film editing gathers the opinions of a wide range of academics, critics, directors and editors, including Michael Ondaatje, Norman Jewison, George Lucas and Thelma Schoonmaker (best known as the editor of Martin Scorsese’s films). EdgeCodes.com: The Art of Motion Picture Editing gives an overview of the development of this art form, spanning the earliest years of cinema through to present-day technological advances.
Tuesday, September 9 at 8:30pm
HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE
The award-winning Hearts of Darkness is an engrossing, uncompromising documentary about the chaotic and catastrophe-plagued film Apocalypse Now. Mixing on-location footage shot by Eleanor Coppola, and featuring interviews with the original cast and crew, the film chronicles how production problems delayed the film and nearly destroyed Francis Ford Coppola’s career.
Wednesday, September 10 at 8:30pm
EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS: HOW THE SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK ’N’ ROLL GENERATION SAVED HOLLYWOOD
Many consider the late 1960s and 1970s to be a time of great daring and invention in Hollywood cinema. A new generation of directors – Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman and Roman Polanski, to name a few – reshaped the boundaries of American filmmaking. Narrated by William H. Macy, Kenneth Bowser’s documentary uses clips from key films and interviews with essential figures to shed light on this incredibly fertile period of film history.
Thursday, September 11 at 8:30pm
THE CELLULOID CLOSET
This comprehensive, award-winning documentary examines the history of representation of gays and lesbians in cinema, and the evolution of sex roles in film. Featuring interviews with Tom Hanks, Shirley MacLaine, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis and Gore Vidal, The Celluloid Closet is significant and essential viewing.
Friday, September 12 at 8:30pm