More happening than Hollywood

SPEAKING on the phone from Toronto, Cameron Bailey, co-director of The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), admits he is managing four to five hours sleep a night as the festival approaches.

He is sitting in his office in the newly constructed glass and steel Bell Lightbox complex, which comprises cinemas, restaurants and conference spaces. It opened its doors during the festival last year, though only part of it was operational. This year, for the first time, it will truly become the festival hub. Interestingly, it’s built on land donated by the Reitman family, Ghostbusters producer Ivan and his two sisters, and sits on the newly named Reitman Square.

“The land was valued at $22 million and it’s right in the heart of downtown Toronto,” Bailey explains. “Ivan’s family had a carwash on it for many years. They’re immigrants, Holocaust survivors from Europe (Communist Czechoslovakia), who came over and started a number of businesses and worked very hard.”