Joana Vicente Co-Head & Executive Director of TIFF: Spotlight Feature Special 2019 (courtesy of TIFF newsletter)

                                                                

  Joana Vicente

 

What drew you to Toronto and TIFF? I have always loved TIFF. It is an incredible organization with amazing, creative, and passionate staff, and a fabulous building and year-round programming where the mission of transforming the world through film comes to life every day. As a producer, I have had the good fortune to have 12 films at the Festival. I know what an important launching pad the Festival is for independent feature films; Toronto audiences are the most discerning and enthusiastic in the world. I have sold films at the Festival, so I know the importance the Festival has on the ecosystem of independent filmmaking. As for the city, I was excited by the idea of getting to know Toronto. I have lived in many places in my life — Macao, Portugal, France, Mozambique, Madeira, New York — so it doesn’t scare me to try a new city. So far, I am loving it! Where's your favourite spot to sit in a movie theatre? In general, I like middle-centre, three-quarters of the way back — which is an issue. My husband would rather sit near the front of the theatre! We compromise. In what way(s) do you think film has the power to transform the world? In so many ways. Through film we feel and we empathize with others and their plights; we connect deeply emotionally — not just rationally; we put our lives in perspective; we dream of worlds we didn't know existed, and we set our imagination free. I believe films speak in a language that can’t really be translated. How do you express a moment that is created by photography, editing, acting, art direction, music — everything that goes into making a film — in any other way? Those ideas, untranslatable in any other medium, have a deep effect on people, and I believe that those visions can point us towards something we may never have felt or thought in quite the same way before. What is your earliest film memory? Maybe baby Bambi wobbling and struggling to get up on his feet for the first time, and then this terrible feeling when his mother dies. And, of course, the quintessential TIFF Staff question: what is your absolute favourite film of all time? It’s so hard to answer this question. So many favourites… I would say, "What have been the most meaningful films at different times of my life?" Singing in the Rain, Rear Window, 400 Blows, Senso, La Dolce Vita, The Godfather, Deer Hunter, Love Streams, Boy Meets Girl (dir. Leos Carax), The Piano, Boyhood, and, for some holiday cheer, Love Actually.

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Joana Vicente Named as TIFF’s New Executive Director and Co-Headread more