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Putting the festival together

On the wall of Toronto International Film Festival co-director Cameron Bailey’s office is a ludicrously old-school schedule – handmade out of tidbits of cardboard – that’s a major pain to fill out.[rssbreak]

Things keep changing, films move around, and festival organizers haven’t figured out how to digitize the scheduling process. Once all the groovy travel to film festivals and the world’s movie capitals is over, Bailey and his team stay in the off ice until the schedule is finalized. He calls this virtual lockdown.

“The part where I go out and see films and meet filmmakers is fantastic,” says Bailey, sitting at his desk in TIFF’s current pre-Bell Lightbox digs, all suited up in preparation for the afternoon’s meeting with the board.

“In terms of public film festivals, we’re at the top of the heap”

But he admits sorting out logistics isn’t as much fun. Fortunately, Bailey doesn’t have to go begging to get the films he wants for the fest.

“In terms of public film festivals, we’re at the top of the heap,” he says. “In terms of prestige and films wanting to be here, Cannes is the only one that has anything over us.”

In case you’re wondering, not just any film qualifies as a festival entry, though Bailey admits it’s not that easy to define the criteria.

“I can look at what’s in the theatres right now,” he offers. “G.I. Joe? Not a festival film. But everything else could play here, because we have a pretty broad mandate. There’s certainly not anything that’s too arty for the Toronto Film Festival, but in terms of where the commercial line is drawn, that’s harder to tell.

“It’s hard to say that one film is too commercial. Slumdog Millionaire came to us almost as an art film before it became mainstream. If a film has artistic ambition, it qualifies if it’s made purely for commercial purposes, it won’t.”

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Bailey has the power to make or break a film, and his friends in the biz know it. So what happens when an old pal submits a crappy movie?

“You turn it down, and then you suffer. I have close friends who are filmmakers, other friends who are in the film business, and we can’t always give them what they want.

“That’s when you find out who your friends are,” he says, smiling. “When I was programming Perspective Canada, I’d get daggers from people whose films I turned down. Then you take their next film because you like it better and they become friendly again. It says a lot.”

But though that dilemma is similar to the one he had as a film critic – he wrote for NOW for over a decade, programming the now defunct Perspectives Canada and Planet Africa series while on the job – the new position is very diff erent.

“When you run a film festival, you advocate for films in ways critics often don’t, and there’s a different kind of responsibility. When you’re a critic, you speak for yourself. But TIFF is an institution, and there are business stakes here. A great review will tell people why to see a film and why it’s important as a film. Now I’m involved in shaping the premiere, what theatre it plays in, what day, what time, who we invite. That kind of stuff can shape how the importance of a movie is perceived.”

Asked if he’d ever say no to Canada’s top echelon of filmmakers – Cronenberg, Egoyan, Mehta, Rozema – his answer is smooth as silk.

“Let’s wait for the day they make a really awful film,” he says. “It hasn’t happened yet.”

As for the impact of the recession, glamour and escapism always remain cool even in hard times. Look what happened to Hollywood in the 30s. Bailey suggests the fest will take a hit in 2010.

“Production is down this year, so next year there will be fewer films to choose from.”

But he’s aware that filmgoers aren’t feeling as free with their money and that festival prices will reflect that. Repeat screenings of galas will be at regular price. As for the $40 freight for galas, he stands by it.

“You have to compare the whole ex-perience to similar things. What does it cost to go to a ball game or the symphony?

In that world, we’re offering a good deal. You’re the first to see the film, you get the red-carpet talent, and the festival experience is not the same as going to the multiplex.”

susanc@nowtoronto.com

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