For the fourth year in a row, the
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Toronto Entertainment District BIA are teaming up to hold a free outdoor summer film series in David Pecaut Square.
The film series--aptly named "
TIFF in the Park"--will screen films every Wednesday evening at sunset throughout July and August.
"We're really happy with the series. It's been a great community event," says Erin Kretz, marketing manager with Toronto Entertainment District BIA. "It's got a great vibe to it."
"The series started in 2010. We saw an opportunity -- in the middle of summer you've got a warm summer night and we thought about an outdoor movie festival. It's a nice opportunity to try to encourage people to stay downtown. And we have this fantastic partner and member, the Toronto International Film Festival, right down the street. We brought the idea to them and they loved it. It was a natural fit."
TIFF has since programmed each year's selection of films.
The theme for this year's film series is "Romantic Classics." The program is equal parts drama and comedy and spans over five decades of film history. Charlie Chaplin's 1931
City of Lights (July 17th), the iconic
Casablanca (July 3rd) and mid-nineties '
new classic' Clueless, are among the nine films that will be screened throughout the summer.
And because the film series is co-hosted by a BIA, it comes with all sorts of incentives and gimmicks to draw people in and get them spending money in the neighbourhood.
Each film will kick off with a lighting presentation from the CN Tower (the tower will shine "a luminous gold…in recognition of golden romantic comedies"). Selected area restaurants will provide discounts for attendees dinning out pre-show and each program will come with a Tim Hortons voucher tucked inside, valid for a small coffee only at the nearby Tim's on the nights of the film screenings (full list of offers
here).
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Erin Kretz, Marketing Manager, Toronto Entertainment District BIA