PeeCee to headline kickoff event at Toronto film festival | Hollywood - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

PeeCee to headline kickoff event at Toronto film festival

Hindustan Times, Toronto | By
Jul 22, 2017 10:17 AM IST

Chopra will be the guest of honour in support of a new campaign to support female voices in screen industries.

Priyanka Chopra will headline the kickoff event for the 42nd edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. The event, the TIFF Soiree, is aimed at raising funds for a new initiative to promote gender parity in the film industry.

Priyanka Chopra at the red carpet premiere of Mary Kom at TIFF in 2014.(Alberto E Rodriguez/WireImage Getty for TIFF)
Priyanka Chopra at the red carpet premiere of Mary Kom at TIFF in 2014.(Alberto E Rodriguez/WireImage Getty for TIFF)

Chopra will be the guest of honour at the Soiree in support of the new programme, Share Her Journey, which is a “campaign to support female voices in screen industries”.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Launched on July 10, the Soiree will be the first major fund-raising activity to propel that programme forward. Speaking to Hindustan Times, maxine bailey, VP of Advancement at TIFF, said they were excited to have Chopra at the Soiree since “she’s the epitome of what we’re trying to do with Share Her Journey – she is strong, she’s talented, she’s smart, she’s diverse. She not only acts but she produces, she works in different media.”

While announcing Share Her Journey, TIFF had pointed out that of the top 250 films of 2016, only 7% were directed by women and of the top 100, just 29% of all protagonists were female. This initiative is targeted at developing talent over a five-year period to enhance participation of women in the industry.

Read more: Toronto Film Festival to honour Priyanka Chopra

As bailey - who spells her name in the lower case - said, “Women make up 52% of the world. Why aren’t we hearing their stories and what can we do to change that? And that’s where Share Her Journey came from.

“We’ve been in the film industry for 42 years and we’ve just come to realise there’s not a lot of women’s voices in positions of power within the film industry,” bailey added. Nearly 30% of the films selected to be featured in the 2016 festival were directed by women.

TIFF’s VP of Advancement maxine bailey.
TIFF’s VP of Advancement maxine bailey.

In recent years, many of the films from India at TIFF have had women directors. Last year, for instance, A Death In The Gunj was Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut.

As bailey said, “The people who program and go over to India have an affinity to really, really smart, warm stories, interesting art pieces and we’ve been lucky and blessed that some of them happen to be directed by women. So, we’re thrilled, we’re obviously on the right track and India is a place to keep looking.”

Priyanka Chopra is no stranger to TIFF. Her films, What’s Your Raashee? (2009) and Mary Kom (2014) have premiered at the festival but since then she has acquired an international profile with the TV drama Quantico and her role in the film Baywatch.

Oscars 2024: From Nominees to Red Carpet Glam! Get Exclusive Coverage on HT. Click Here

Get more updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    author-default-90x90

    Anirudh Bhattacharya is a Toronto-based commentator on North American issues, and an author. He has also worked as a journalist in New Delhi and New York spanning print, television and digital media. He tweets as @anirudhb.

SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On