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• TORONTO FILM SOCIETY A BRIEF HISTORY

In 1948 a group of enthusiastic individuals formed a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering film appreciation in Toronto. By 1950, we became partners in an instrumental group of national film societies that eventually became The Canadian Film Institute. We quickly become a pioneer in film presentation and the foremost Film Society in Canada. The Toronto Film Society was the first to screen films on Sundays in the days when the city was “locked down” due to the Lord’s Day Observance Act, the first to fight the Censor Board in order to show films deemed at the time to be “too risky”, the first to regularly screen and critique foreign language films, paving the way for institutions such as Cinematheque and the Toronto International Film Festival.

We were one of the first groups to publicly screen works by Canadian film makers such as Norman MacLaren when no theatre would schedule them. The Toronto Film Society was the first Toronto institution that invited film makers (including: MAYA DEREN, STANLEY KRAMER, HANS RICHTER, EDWARD DMYTRYK) to the city to screen and talk about their films, often sponsoring workshops with them for young filmmakers.

• Some of the highlights of the Toronto Film Society include; Programming Dadaist painter Hans Richter’s surrealist film “Dreams that Money Can Buy” which was presented in person to near sell-out crowds in 1950 along with an exhibition of his paintings at the ROM Theatre.

• Toronto Film Society went on to co-produced and film in Toronto in September 1951 Ensemble for Somnambulists with Maya Deren which premiered at University of Toronto.

• Commissioned young film student Ron Mann to produce and direct the short film SHHH (located in the TFS archives) *Ron Mann is now a noted documentary filmmakers-Twist, Grass. Awarded Best Amateur Made Film in 1954 with Eight-Fifteen.

TFS association with Eastman House Film Archive started early in it’s existence, travelling down to Rochester to screen films from their archives, befriending silent screen goddess Louise Brooks (who became a patron) and original curator James Card. Now in it’s 25th consecutive year (there was a gap of a few years prior to that), TFS continues to screen rarities from the vaults and champion the important cause of film preservation and restoration. Monies from the TFS have helped restore films such as The Toy Shop.

 Our film notes and critiques on classic, silent and foreign film are found in several national and international archives (most notably Eastman House in New York, and the British Film Institute) and are still used by film study groups around the world. The Toronto Film Society believes that the profound visual statement created by films reflects and frames all of us, promoting discussion through the most encompassing medium of the past century.

The Society now specializes in “classic” film. The work of the masters in direction, cinematography, writing and acting peaked in the great films from Hollywood and Europe from the Silents of the 1920s to the early 1950s. Inestimable in their value as historical documents, films from this era show us how we thought, spoke, dressed, lived, loved, and laughed. Classic film is regarded as some of the finest entertainment value of the 20th century.

The Toronto Film Society is the expert for these films-devoted to their presentation and promoting the need for their preservation. We provide the only comprehensive opportunity for people to experience these cultural and entertaining movies, to learn the art of filmmaking and to discover our common history but just as importantly we have fun at the movies.

The Society presents three Toronto based programmes per year, a weekly themed summer festival over seven weeks and two monthly screenings starting in the fall and finishing in the early spring, all in the form of double bills, all professionally presented on the big screen. Our programming is a lively mix of the famous, the rare, and the obscure. But they all share the same values of quality classic cinema and superior entertainment. We preface each programme with our researched film notes, written by our members.

• Our upcoming Summer Series is located at Innis College Town Hall on the U of T campus.
• Our upcoming 2009/2010 fall/winter programmes will both be located at Innis College Town Hall.
• Both easily accessible by TTC, and barrier free.

Visit our website for more info; http://pages.interlog.com/~tfs/home