In Numbers: Toronto International Film Festival
Sep 16, 2012
By Anealla Safdar
Today is the last of 11-film laden days in Toronto; the International Film Festival (TIFF) is coming to a close and the city will stop acting as North America’s main marketplace for filmmakers until next year.
“We’re pleased that the festival continues to provide opportunities for buyers to see films in a strong environment which facilitates film sales,” said Justin Cutler, Senior Manager of TIFF’s Sales and Industry Office. “It’s been a particularly robust year for sales and we’re happy that the festival’s official selection will reach film lovers across the world.”
To celebrate the successful event (IFC Films acquired the rights to the latest international film we financed “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” there), here are the highlights in numbers…
289 feature-length films were screened and 83 shorts at TIFF
Of them, 146 were world premieres
The films came from 72 countries
A Japanese film, “Penance” was the longest running at 4.5 hours (16200 seconds)
The shortest was “Pacific Sun” at 100 seconds
2,300 volunteers painted the city orange (the colour of their shirts) as they helped out
4,280 industry delegates invaded the city looking for deals and networking, a 9 percent increase on last year
29 key films were sold to U.S distributors including The Reluctant Fundamentalist, What Maisie Knew and Much Ado About Nothing
2,563 companies were there to represent, from 81 countries