The Toronto Black Film Festival and inclusion in media

By Joëlle Arianna Staropoli, Hania Noor, Drew Buckley, Madison Cameron, Alisha Shaikh

Originally Published to TMU Today on March 26, 2024

The Toronto Black Film Festival took place from February 14 to February 19, 2024, in the heart of the city’s downtown core. Watch and read what people have to say below:

The Toronto Black Film Festival takes place every year for black producers, filmmakers, and actors to have an outlet to show their work. 

Toronto hosted its 12th annual Black Film Festival this year featuring movies like A Story of Bones and Semret.

Andrea Este, the Head Coordinator of The Toronto Black Film Festival, is entering her fifth year with the festival. 

When she started, there were three festivals, but they have since grown to six. The most recent festivals take place in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Calgary, and Vancouver.

Este said the film festival exists because there weren’t enough platforms for black filmmakers in the industry. When it comes to festivals like TIFF, there isn’t enough space for them to accept more films.

“They will accept two or three because they have so many others,” said Este. 

Collins Jesse attended the Toronto Black Film Festival for the first time this year, and while it was a breathtaking experience for him, some concerns were raised about the festival.

“I found it engaging to see all these films being made by black people, hearing their stories from their own perspective,” said Jesse

Jesse feels it is important to have film festivals dedicated specifically to marginalized communities because it allows black filmmakers to tell the black community’s stories from their perspectives.

Although, Jesse feels improvements need to be made to ensure the films are of good enough quality to be showcased in such a big space.

“They should improve on the quality of the film. If a film can fail in five or six components that make a good film, there has to be room for improvement,” said Jesse

The film festival showcases movies from Africans, the Caribbean, African Americans and Black Canadian films. 

Dr. Cheryl Thompson, Associate Professor in Performance at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), tries to teach the history of black films in her classroom.

“I try to teach them not as creative arts but as mirrors into cultural history,” said Thompson.

Thompson speaks on how Canada is the most vertically integrated media in the world, with only three companies owning everything. This creates less access for us to have a diversity of voices within the media.

“Within the last 10 years, a lot of local media is just disappearing,” said Thompson

cutting local media makes it harder for minority groups to find space to showcase their work. 

With this, smaller film festivals for specific groups of minorities have become especially important.

The next film festival to showcase the work of a specific community is the annual Toronto Irish Film Festival, beginning on March 22, 2024.