Toronto Looks to International for Growth
variety.comAnita Lee, the move comes in response to the emergence of younger audiences driving the post-pandemic box office rebound, reshaping audience tastes in both U.S.
independent cinemagoing and at film festivals. “Our festival audiences have become younger, and younger audiences are coming out for the non-English international arthouse films,” Lee told Variety, adding it was Toronto’s “biggest growth and shift” in audience attendance.
Drivers for this evolution abound, Lee said, such as the fact that audiences are consuming more international content. In the last few years, a new breed of “crossover or slightly more accessible international arthouse films” has emerged, she added, citing Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness.” “That’s on the rise.
There’s more industry attention to films which could work in this way,” she added. One big question for Lee is: “What can we do to better support, position and raise awareness of international and especially non-English films at the festival?
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