Did you know that Toronto currently hosts over 70 different film festivals throughout the year? When you think about it, that's more than one a week! We host short films, documentaries, genre films, films from the LGBTQIA community and films from many of the cultural groups that call Toronto home. Some of the festivals offer free screenings and most have tickets in the $10 - $15 range. A great site for upcoming film events is Toronto Plex which also includes a list of festivals throughout the year so you can plan in advance!
The city also boasts a number of unique venues for seeing movies. If you're a fan of documentaries, there's the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. Located in one of Toronto's classic heritage theatres, this theatre programs documentaries from home and abroad and hosts other festivals, community events and special screenings. Memberships are reasonable, are available in various levels and provide great value. Community activism saved the Revue Cinema at 400 Roncesvalles, which now shows predominantly second run movies for $11, but a star card gets you $3 off every movie you see for a whole year. They're having a town hall meeting on September 26 so if you live in the neighbourhood and have ideas about how they can better serve the community, think about attending. Other heritage theatres with second run and special offerings include The Royal Cinema at 608 College, The Fox at 2236 Queen St. E. and the Kingsway at 3030 Bloor St. W.
Many of the city's cultural organizations, such as the Japan Foundation and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, regularly sponsor free film screenings, either at their own locations or more commonly, at one of the community-based theatres listed above. Many of these are listed on this blog's Events page. Some organizations have their own theatre, like the Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Hall which regularly screens films related to current exhibits. The University of Toronto has Innis Town Hall, whose theatre has recently been refurbished. The Cinema Studies Student Union programs regular free features there every week during the school year, including premieres and screenings with special guests.
The Toronto Public Library is another organization that regularly schedules movie screenings. Many are geared to families, with appropriate movie selections and time slots. Others are intended for a broader audience. Some branches have regular screenings, such as Barbara Frum which hosts afternoon movies at 2 pm two Thursdays a month, while others are geared to special events or programming. For example, the Hillcrest branch will be hosting Puppetmongers Movie Night on September 17 which will show movies featuring puppetry from around the world, and starting September 16, the Brentwood branch will be hosting a monthly Polish film night.
The library also has a vast collection of movies to borrow, ranging from popular titles and foreign films to documentaries and how-to videos. New movies are added regularly.
Rainbow Cinemas has a few locations around the city and if you don't mind seeing your films on a slightly older, smaller screen, it's a good way to save a few bucks. They even have $5 Tuesdays. The Carlton Cinema, which operates as a Magic Lantern Theatre, is also special in that shows a lot of new independent and foreign releases and on the third Saturday of the month as part of their Carlton Midnight Society they screen cult oddities.
There's lots more to say about the movie offerings in Toronto. As the summer has just ended, I've completely ignored the outdoor screenings that happen at multiple venues across the city for example. Watch the Events page for free and special screenings, check out Toronto Plex or Cinema Clock for listings, and add your favourites by leaving a comment on this post.
For the next 12 hours Groupon is offering a $10 movie and popcorn deal for Rainbow and Magic Lantern theatres: https://www.groupon.com/deals/rainbow-cinemas-magic-lantern-theatres-11
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