Pattison Launches TUFF Short Films And Artists On Transit and Outdoor
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Beginning Sept. 5 and running to Sept. 15, the 8th annual Toronto Urban Film Festival (TUFF), North America’s largest commuter film festival, began rolling out with PATTISON Onestop’s Toronto subway platform screens presenting some of the world’s best one-minute, silent films to over 1 million daily commuters.
New this year, all platform screens at St. Andrew subway station exclusively feature TUFF without interruption from news and ads for the entire festival. TUFF 2014 features seven programmes of official selections, a special commissioned project for screen and billboard, three filmmaker spotlights, a handful of brilliant online-only films that are Too TUFF for the TTC, and two new programmes that screen across Canada.
This year, TUFF has expanded beyond Toronto and is launching TUFF Local Stories on PATTISON Onestop screens in 40 shopping malls across Canada. The programme features six films representing the six provinces where TUFF Local Stories will be screened. TUFF Travel Stories playing on screens at the Calgary International Airport showcase five films that engage the concept of travel.
“TUFF has turned the ordinary Toronto subway commute into an extraordinary moment, and now that we are taking TUFF on the road, travelers and shoppers across Canada have the opportunity to enjoy a few minutes of unique entertainment while they are on the go,” says Sharon Switzer, TUFF executive director.
All TUFF films can also be seen online, and viewers are encouraged to cast their votes for the Viewers’ Choice Award from September 3-to-11, 2014.
TUFF’s 2014 guest judge, celebrated Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg, The Saddest Music in the World) will select the top three films of the festival, as well as the winner of the City of Toronto’s Award for Emerging Filmmakers. All awards will be presented at the TUFF Gala on Sunday, Sept. 14/14.
“What a delight it was to watch all the films in this year’s TUFF!” says Maddin. “Every one of them shot past like a train, every one of them wonderfully inventive in a different way. It was a bumper crop year and commuters will be delighted to see what came. Eyes will be as awash with pleasure, as mine were watching them all go past – pure, silent images that demand to be watched again and again. I love this festival.”
PATTISON Onestop has also partnered with FAVA and launched Gotta Minute Film Festival – the first ever, silent, short film festival to play on PATTISON Onestop station screens in Edmonton Transit’s LRT system. The Gotta Minute Film Festival will screen from September 15-to-21, 2014.
“PATTISON Outdoor is committed to increasing the appreciation of the arts in our communities and applauds TUFF and our new sister festival, Gotta Minute Film Festival, for shining a spotlight on these passionate artists and their unique works,” says Randy Otto, president, PATTISON Outdoor Advertising.
In addition to the 11 days of programming on the TTC, including seven days of exceptional official selections playing every 10 minutes on PATTISON Onestop screens in subway stations, the Artist Spotlight programming has expanded to include three filmmakers: Wrik Mead (Toronto, Canada); Maarit Suomi-Väänänen (Helsinki, Finland); and David Gabriël Djindjikhachvili (Amsterdam, Holland). A guest artist commissioning project – The Dialogues by Public Studio is screening in the TTC on September 12, 2014 and above ground on PATTISON Outdoor’s giant video billboard on Yonge St., one block north of Dundas Square from Sept. 8-to-14, 2014.
In addition the Screening Room is returning to Room 222 of the Drake Hotel where the public can enjoy 90 minutes of back-to-back TUFF from Sept. 10-to-13, 2014.
TUFF is produced by PATTISON Onestop, co-produced by Art for Commuters, and is funded by NBCUniversal Canada and the Ontario Arts Council.
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