2020 Toronto International Film Festival

The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the 45th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, is scheduled to be held from 10 to 21 September 2020.[1] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, organizers have acknowledged that the event will "look different" than in past years, primarily by incorporating an online streaming component, but they have indicated that current plans still include some form of physical festival taking place if possible within the constraints of whatever social distancing restrictions are still in place by September.[2]

The festival's executive director Joana Vicente and artistic director Cameron Bailey spoke about the festival's plans in a video conference call launching the international We Are One: A Global Film Festival;[2] Bailey has also discussed some of the festival's plans in an interview on IndieWire's "Screen Talk" podcast.[3] Plans have included efforts to act as a "united platform" to screen films that had been slated to premiere at other cancelled festivals such as the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and efforts to capitalize on the resurgence of drive-in theaters by staging some live screenings at drive-in venues.[3]

On June 24, organizers indicated that a smaller program of 50 films will be screened in a conventional manner, using social distancing strategies such as drive-in or outdoor screenings, over the first five days of the festival, and will then remain available on a dedicated streaming platform for the remainder of the festival.[4]