As movie stars descend on Toronto for the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), organizers are preparing to celebrate some of the best from the festival here in town.
The TIFF Film Circuit, a joint project between the Stettler Public Library and the Jewel Theatre, has kicked off its second circuit this past Monday, Sept. 5.
The local partnership approached TIFF and applied to become a partner in order to host the circuit. Having been accepted as a TIFF outlet, the library is able to get films from this year's TIFF festival to be screened at the Jewel.
The theatre, under its previous owners, used to host a similar program, according to current general manager Rose Chapman. The circuit stopped a few years before the theatre closed. The Jewel re-opened after a few months under the new ownership of the Geddes family.
"When we re-opened, the library approached us about starting the circuit again," Chapman explained.
Last year was the first run of the Stettler TIFF Circuit, and while the first film brought in about 40 people, word-of-mouth and local advertising saw the number double by the second flick. By the end of the first circuit, more than a hundred people were coming to the films, Chapman said.
TIFF screens a lot of international and Canadian films that don't make it to a wider audiences, as the releases remain limited, aren't screened in Canada, or end up going straight to DVD, Chapman explained. The film circuit gives people a chance to see these "oddball films" that aren't mainstream.
The circuit runs from September to April, with the TIFF films screening on the first Monday of the month. While it's too late to enjoy September's TIFF selection, a comedy-drama called Sing Street that featured an '80s music theme, on Oct. 3, film fans can head to the Jewel to catch Love and Friendship.
The British film is part comedy, part romance and part drama, and is based off an unfinished Jane Austen novel. It stars Kate Beckinsale.