Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
At 35, TIFF finally moves out of mom’s basement
After 35 years, the Toronto film festival is has finally got a permanent home — a C$200 million five-story complex with five posh theaters, two galleries, a bistro, and a restaurant.
The “Bell Lightbox” — which threw open its doors to the public for the first time on Sunday — will help consolidate the festival’s sprawling operations that typically move around Toronto’s downtown from year to year, forcing returning guests and journalists to scramble to get their bearings.
In the last decade, festival press conference have occupied at least three different hotels, while the main box office has jumped around various venues, including a large tent on the front lawn of city hall last year.
The festival will continue to screen most of its 300-odd roster of films at public theaters, but having its own screens will allow it to hold exhibitions, screenings, and film lectures year-round.
