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Young festival already oldest in Canada

Broadcast Date: Sept. 12, 1978

It may be a new kid on the block, but with the demise of the Stratford Film Festival, Toronto's Festival of Festivals is suddenly the oldest "genuinely international" film festival in Canada. Morningside's Don Harron sits down with festival director Wayne Clarkson and finds him delighted with the level of support and enthusiasm for the festival. Now, Clarkson just hopes that programming at the festival will finally put an end to the old lament that movie lovers have to go all the way to Cannes to see Canadian films.

Young festival already oldest in Canada

• Founded by Bill Marshall, Henk van der Kolk and Dusty Cohl, the first Festival of Festivals ran from Oct. 18-24, 1976. The festival's first screening took place at the Cinesphere at Ontario Place and featured Cousin, cousine by French director Jean Charles Tacchella. The name "Festival of Festivals" stemmed from an early intention to program the best films shown at established festivals. However, Toronto quickly entered the competition to host premieres and launch some of the best new film talent in the world.

• Virtually no big stars or American blockbuster movies showed for the first festival. U.S. studios refused to let their films be shown, telling organizers that they didn't put their movies in domestic festivals and that they considered Canada part of the American domestic market. The snub, followed by a blast of cultural nationalism, helped put the festival in the headlines right from its start.

• Despite the lack of star power, the first festival was widely considered a hit. "Even without biggies, festival was a winner," wrote the Globe and Mail as the festival closed in 1976. Paid attendance topped 31,000, an early indicator of the festival's perennial popularity with moviegoers. The Daily Star quoted Bill Marshall as saying, "the festival is such a rousing success we could have sold 10 times the number of tickets printed."

• At the second Festival of Festivals, Hollywood films and stars began appearing. According to Brian D. Johnson's Brave Films, Wild Nights, the biggest name at the 1977 festival was Henry "the Fonz" Winkler. Other luminaries included Peter O'Toole, Wilt Chamberlain, Liza Minnelli, Peter Ustinov, Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould.
• In 1977, organizers shifted the dates of the festival from October to September. It has run in early September ever since.

• Although some silent footage from the first festival exists in the CBC Television archive, the earliest known clip with sound is this CBC Radio clip from 1976. The report discusses the film Partners by Don Owen. The film's producers ultimately pulled it from the festival rather than screen it with the edits demanded by the Ontario Film Censor Board.

Young festival already oldest in Canada

Medium: Radio

Program: Morningside

Broadcast Date: Sept. 12, 1978

Guest(s): Wayne Clarkson

Host: Don Harron

Duration: 6:41

Last updated:
June 29, 2009