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The Toronto International Film Festival tightens rules for movie premieres

After having big movie premieres like “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Argo,” “Gravity,” and “12 Years a Slave” scooped up by the rival Telluride Film Festival just days before their Canadian debut, the organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival are giving an ultimatum to studios and filmmakers: If you want your movie to premiere at TIFF, steer clear of the Colorado-based film fest.

“All films playing in the first four days of the festival must be world premiere or North American premieres," TIFF Artistic Director Cameron Bailey told Indiewire on Tuesday. "'World premiere' means the first public screening of the film anywhere in the world. 'North American premiere' means the first public screening anywhere in Canada, the United States or Mexico. Invited films that screen elsewhere in North America prior to their Toronto screening will be scheduled from the Monday of our festival onward. In additional the festival's Opening Night film must be a world premiere. The closing night film must be a world or international premiere."

Them’s fightin’ words! At least in the film festival business, they are.

The new policy is aimed at saving slots in TIFF’s coveted opening weekend for movies that have not played elsewhere in North America, particularly Telluride. The comparatively small Colorado film festival takes place in late August (just before Toronto) which gives it a big advantage in nabbing high-profile films aiming to bow during the Fall awards season run-up. Unlike most film festivals, Telluride doesn’t announce any of its films in advance. This can give other fests like TIFF and the New York Film Festival the impression that they are getting World Premieres of certain films, when, in fact, those films are set to debut at Telluride.

A healthy rivalry between major film festivals is one thing, but TIFF’s move highlights just how competitive these organizations have to be. Having the World Premiere of a movie that goes on to win Best Picture at the Oscars is a very nice feather to have in one’s film festival cap, and it's a feather that festivals like Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF desperately want. This past year saw Oscar contenders "Gravity" and "12 Years a Slave" (both set for North American premieres at TIFF) pilfered by Telluride at the last second. Even films by Canadian filmmakers, like Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" and Denis Villeneuve's "Prisoners" (films you'd think Toronto would have an absolute lock on), were grabbed by Telluride. And you thought office politics were bad!

TIFF's policy shift also illustrates some of the double dealing that Hollywood engages in with these film festivals. Promising one thing to TIFF, another to Telluride, and only delivering on one of those promises is a dubious practice at best. Studios and producers obviously want to get the best film fest spot they can for their movies, but straight up deceiving festival organizers about what they’re getting isn’t the way to do it.

After tolerating this sort of thing for several years, the organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival have every right to upset. The New York Film Festival also recently imposed similar rules for its World Premieres -- a move that, when combined with TIFF's new rules, will put Telluride (and movie studios who want to have their cake and eat it, too) in a very tricky position.