Ahead of the start of the Toronto International Film Festival 2023, Bell Canada is dropping the event and will no longer sponsor it.
The telecommunications giant has been the lead sponsor since 1995 and will end the partnership with TIFF following this year’s festival.
“Bell has had a terrific partnership with TIFF for the past 28 years,” the tech company said in a statement posted by Variety. “We’re proud of our partnership to help make TIFF a leading global destination for film and to support Canadian content and talent on the world stage.”
The statement continued, “Earlier this year, we decided that the end of 2023 would be the right time to step back from our partnership with TIFF and opted not to renew our sponsorship in order to invest in other opportunities that are core to our business. We are confident TIFF will continue to develop and showcase the world’s leading content to inform, educate and entertain the best audience in film. We’re grateful to have been a part of it all.”
Deadline reached out multiple times to TIFF representatives for comment to no avail.
TIFF will run from Thursday, September 7 through Sunday, September 17, 2023.
