Local Film Cultures

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  • Exhibition Sites: Case Studies
    • Biltmore Theatre
    • Casino Theatre
    • Century to the Titania
    • Cinema Lumiere
    • Cineplex
    • The Club
    • Coronet Theatre
    • Eglinton Theatre
    • Fox Theatre
    • Golden Mile Theatre
    • Hollywood Theatre
    • Kingsway Theatre
    • Metro Theatre
    • Parkdale Theatre
    • Tivoli Theatre
    • Towne Cinema
    • University Theatre
    • Victory Theatre
  • Sites and Scenes
    • The Role of the State
      • NFB
        • Silva Basmajian Interview
        • Gerry Flahive Interview
      • OAC
      • OFDC
    • Industrial Practices
      • The Nat Taylor Experience
        • Nat Taylor images and Interview
      • The IMAX Experience
        • IMAX images
    • Scenes and Institutions
      • CFMDC
        • Barbara Sternberg Interview
      • Funnel Experimental Film Theatre
        • Brousseau Interview
        • John Porter Interview
      • Rochdale
        • Keith Locke Interview
    • Scenes out of Site
      • Feminist Film Scene
        • Lynne Fernie Interview
        • Brenda Longfellow Interview
      • LGBT
      • Suspect Video
        • Luis Ceriz interview
    • Discourse / Fourth Estate
      • Alternative Film Ephemera
        • Luis Ceriz and Glen Salter Interviews
      • From Journalism to Criticism
    • Alternative Exhibition
      • Toronto Drive-Ins
        • John McLean Interview
        • Rob Salem Interview
      • Toronto’s Rep Cinemas
      • Little Italy
        • Angelo Principe Interview
        • Rocco Mastrangelo Interview
    • Grind House Cinemas
      • The Yonge Strip
        • Eric Veillette Interview
        • Rob Salem Interview
      • Permissive City
        • Rob Salem Interview
      • From East to West
        • Hal Kelly Interview
  • About the Project
  • Sources
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  • Towne Cinema

    As a first-run art house venue, the Towne served a dual purpose, playing both recently released films and art cinema.

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  • The Yonge St. Strip and its Grindhouses

    Grindhouse theatres did not operate within a bubble on the Yonge Strip, but as a component in the hugely varied entertainments and distractions that the strip provided.

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  • Funnel Theatre performance

    Napo B. in Fastwurm’s “Fishhooks to You” at the Funnel Theatre. Jan. 5-24, 1981. Photography by John Porter

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  • Innis Film Society

    The Innis Film Society presents Paul Sharits at Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave., Toronto – February 8, 1991. L-R: Kathy Elder, Jim Shedden, Bruce Elder, Michael Snow, Roger Bourdeau, Paul Sharits, Bart Testa.Innis Film Society. Photograph by John Porter

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  • Suspect Video

    Rather than objects of cinematic nostalgia, Suspect is hung with objects of cult appreciation.

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  • Rochdale

    Artists sought to reform film exhibition and practice; Rochdale made this possible by providing a space for them to do so.

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  • Rep Houses

    Repertory cinemas fulfilled the role as the cinematic educator: bringing accessibility to the inaccessible, and by extension inspiring the growth of cinephilia.

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  • OFDC

    With Toronto being the media center of Canada, most of OFDC’s initiatives inadvertently became about supporting and strengthening the Toronto film industry.  

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  • NFB in Toronto

    The position of Toronto as a case study of the NFB poses a challenging and contradictory task since the city is but one aspect within the Canadian landscape, itself composed of diverse sites and scenes.

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  • Nat Taylor’s Approach

    “Our Business” conceptualized Taylor’s ideal model for a Canadian film industry, one adhering to a transnational strategy according to the fundamental economic principles of supply and demand.

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  • Print Journalism

    …. How does a critic like Jay Scott factor into the change of how entertainment was viewed?

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  • The Little Italy Scene

    Mastrangelo’s Pylon and St. Clair theatres were “an important meeting place for the neighbourhood… [that] brought a concept of public leisure and pleasure to the street.”

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  • The IMAX Experience

    With its encompassing, eight-story screens, impeccable picture quality, and crisp sound, IMAX has based its entire existence on blurring the distinction between the fake and the real.

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  • Grindhouses, Yonge St, Permissive City

    Old and decaying, the heterogeneous publics that filled the auditoria of spaces like the Rio and the Coronet represented something more than just a crowd of miscreants.

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  • Building Toronto’s Feminist Film Scene

    The interdisciplinary interactions and collaborative underpinnings of the feminist film scene and Toronto’s larger cultural sphere were key.

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  • Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre

    With increased production came an increased awareness of the key role of pedagogy—to foster alternative film awareness.

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  • ‘Bad Food and Passion Pits’

    Toronto’s Drive-Ins’ two faces: sexual and communal spaces.

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  • Alternative Media

    The written word surrounds the filmic viewing experience, whether it is promotional material, localized listings, or obsessive fan writings.

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  • Coronet Theatre

    A “Classic Fleapit”, or, where audiences became more involved than your average movie house.

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  • Century Theatre

    At the theatre in 1979, a “largely Greek” crowd rose to their feet in support of the new revolutionary government in Nicaragua.

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  • Golden Mile

    The Golden Mile: The gem of Scarborough

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  • The Club

    After becoming New York’s first openly gay owned bathhouse in 1970, Club Baths opened its Toronto branch in 1973.

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  • Fox Theatre

    Fox Theatre: Will Canada ever formally recognize its oldest surviving cinema?

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  • Eaton Cineplex

    The practices established by the Eaton Cineplex revolutionized going to the movies.

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  • Victory Theatre

    The Victory Theatre represents the peak of an era as well as its end.

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  • University Theatre

    Within a year of opening, it was regarded as one of the finest theatres in Canada.

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  • Parkdale Theatre

    The theatre was a source of escape – even if the nature of the escape was not always cinematic.

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  • Metro Theatre

    The Metro complied with decency standards by selling the sizzle, not the steak.

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  • Cinema Lumiere

    Cinema Lumiere was a venue strictly about the art.

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  • Funnel Experimental Film Theatre

    Andy Warhol Superstar Ondine (standing far right) presents “Chelsea Girls” at The Funnel, 507 King St. E., Toronto – February 16, 1980. Photograph by John Porter

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  • Grindhouses from East to West

    The negative attitude that Torontonians had towards the Yonge Street strip caused people to seek entertainment in their own neighborhoods.

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  • OAC

    Though the Ontario Arts Council acts on a provincial level, its impact on the Toronto arts scene cannot be overstated.

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  • “Brassieres of Uranus”

    Jack Smith’s “Brassieres of Uranus” performance at the Funnel Theatre, 1985. Photograph by John Porter

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  • Biltmore

    The Biltmore regularly carried all-night billings of action movies, horror films and miscellaneous pornographic features.

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  • Tivoli Theatre

    The Tivoli Theatre was the full cinematic experience.

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