Welcome to RAFF 2012

Welcome to the Canadian Art Foundation’s ninth annual Reel Artists Film Festival. We are once again delighted to be at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Over the past year, we have sought out the very best documentaries on visual art and artists, including a selection of shorts that originated online, and are now being presented for the first time on the big screen. The festival continues to grow, with 20 films profiling Canadian and international artists who work in all media.

If there was one word that described 2011, it was ”resistance”—from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street. Of course, artists engage in acts of resistance every day. By striving to push beyond the conventional, as well as their own personal limits, they create new ways of seeing and thinking about our world. No one does this better than legendary performance-artist Marina Abramović.

We are thrilled to present the Canadian premiere of Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present and to welcome Abramović and the filmmakers to Toronto. Abramović is one of the most compelling artists of our time. She has challenged the way people think about art for nearly 40 years, boldly blurring distinctions between life and art.

New this year, we are collaborating with Point of View magazine to present a Free Filmmakers Panel, and with TIFF to present a new work by Jem Cohen, also free. The Panel is on Feb. 24 and features Matthew Akers, Roz Owen and Larry Weinstein in conversation with Point of View editor Marc Glassman. Cohen’s Occupy Wall St. Newsreels will be screened daily in the TIFF Atrium.

We extend thanks to our enthusiastic and dedicated committee members who help promote and organize our special opening-night celebration. I would also like to acknowledge our valued sponsors and donors for their generosity. Finally, sincerest thanks to all the filmmakers, producers and distributors who have made these films available to us—and to you, our audience members, for your interest and support. Enjoy the festival!

Ann Webb
Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation
Publisher, Canadian Art magazine