TIFF Unveils 2017 Lineup of Programs & Programmers

Coming off a 2016 Festival that introduced more awards season favourites than any other single event, the Toronto International Film Festival organizers today announced their 2017 lineup of programmes and programmers - with a renewed commitment to bold, discerning curation. "This week we celebrate La La Land, Moonlight, Lion, Arrival, Hidden Figures, Manchester By the Sea, I Am Not Your Negro, Jackie, Toni Erdmann, The Salesman and all the other Oscar-nominated films showcased last September in Toronto," said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. "As we look forward to this year's Festival, we're finding new ways to select the best of the year for our audiences and enhance the experience for our industry and media delegates."

Unveiling 14 diverse programmes and a programming team of 22, including two new additions, the Festival also revealed its plan to retire the Vanguard and City to City sections and reduce the overall number of films in the 2017 lineup by 20 percent.

"As we build on the success of the Festival's past four decades, we're challenged to balance providing a generous choice of movies for over 400,000 festival-goers with maintaining strong curatorial focus," said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. "For 2017 we're offering a refreshed, more tightly curated edition. In addition to trimming the lineup, we're excited to introduce two new Festival programmers to the TIFF team."

Kiva Reardon will program AFRICA and the Middle East. Kiva is a programmer at the Miami Film Festival, the founding editor of cléo journal and has previously worked at the Doha Film Institute in Qatar. Her writing has been published in Hazlitt, The Globe and Mail, Maisonneuve, the National Post, Filmmaker Magazine, and others. For the past two years she worked as the Programming Associate to Cameron Bailey.

Peter Kuplowsky will program Midnight Madness, taking the reins from veteran programmer Colin Geddes. Peter is a film curator, content producer, writer and hat enthusiast based in Toronto. Since 2005, Peter has established a career championing genre cinema and outsider art at various international film festivals, including Toronto After Dark, Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and as Programming Associate for Geddes. Peter has also helped develop and produce a number of critically acclaimed short and feature films with emerging filmmakers.

After three years where Kathleen McInnis helped to build the Festival's international shorts selection, Short Cuts will now be programmed by Jason Anderson and Danis Goulet.

The 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Programmes are:
Contemporary World Cinema
Compelling stories, global perspectives.

Discovery
Directors to watch. The future of world cinema.

Gala Presentations
Movie stars. Red-carpet premieres. Major audience interest.

In Conversation With...
Engaging onstage conver­sations with leaders in the film industry and beyond.

Masters
The latest from the world's most influential art-house filmmakers.

Midnight Madness
The wild side: midnight screenings of the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy cinema.

Platform
Directors' cinema now. Launched in 2015, this juried programme shines a light on up to 12 selections that demonstrate directorial vision from international filmmakers.

Primetime
Serial storytelling: television in its artistic renaissance.

Short Cuts
The world. In short form.

Special Presentations
High-profile premieres and the world's leading filmmakers.

TIFF Cinematheque
Curated gems from the history of Canadian and international cinema.

TIFF Docs
Candid and unscripted: the best non-fiction cinema from around the world.

TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave
For the next generation of movie lovers.

Wavelengths
Daring, visionary and autono­mous voices. Works that expand our notions of the moving image.

The 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Programmers are:
Piers Handling
Western Europe, Italy, Poland; Gala Presentations, Platform

Cameron Bailey
South Asia, Gala Presentations, Special Presentations, Platform

Michèle Maheux
Ireland, the Netherlands; Gala Presentations

Kerri Craddock
Western Europe, USA, Turkey, Gala Presentations, Special Presentations

Brad Deane
TIFF Cinematheque

Dimitri Eipides
Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Western Asia

Giovanna Fulvi
East and Southeast Asia

Steve Gravestock
Canada, the Philippines, Nordic Region

Peter Kuplowsky*
Midnight Madness

Michael Lerman
Primetime

Elizabeth Muskala
TIFF Kids

Andrea Picard
Wavelengths

Thom Powers
TIFF Docs

Kiva Reardon*
Africa and the Middle East

Diana Sanchez
Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Caribbean

Theresa Scandiffio
In Conversation With...

Jane Schoettle
Australia, New Zealand, Israel, USA

Magali Simard
Canada

Jesse Wente
TIFF Cinematheque

Jason Anderson
Short Cuts

Danis Goulet
Short Cuts

Karina Rotenstein
Industry programming

*new to the programming team.