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Toronto gets its cinematic moment in the spotlight with new TIFF exhibition

Oct 29, 2019 2:27:01 PM / by Audi Midtown

For many Torontonians, it’s a point of pride to discover prominent landmarks embedded in various Hollywood films and disguised as other cities — “Hey, was that Casa Loma?”, or “They shot that at my high school!”

But along with that feeling of pride, there’s also often a sense of inadequacy: Why are we pretending to be, say, Chicago, or New York, instead of playing ourselves?

That’s the question presented in a brand-new TIFF exhibition called !Toronto.

The Dave Kemp-Alexandra Anderson collaborative installation explores all the various instances of Toronto as it appears on film, particularly the many times where the city is depicted as another place entirely. It centres around the impact of Toronto’s film representation — or, as is often the case, its misrepresentation — on the city’s identity and on the discourse around Canadian national cinema.

!Toronto combines a vast array of film clips, new interviews with local filmmakers, and a wall-sized map of the city where locations are overlaid.

Plus, there are extra Toronto-on-film tidbits featuring the likes of David Cronenberg, Patricia Rozema, and Atom Egoyan.

You can catch this free exhibition at the Film Reference Library on the fourth floor of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, where it runs until December 14. Check the TIFF website for showtimes.

Topics: Style & Culture

Audi Midtown

Written by Audi Midtown