“Think of it as a set of boxes within a box — but with none of the walls of the screening areas touching. The movie experience is isolated to the movie on the screen, no noise from other presentations,” says Shane Smith, director of public programmes at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario. And, oh what magic those boxes contain!
After years of dreaming and planning, TIFF opened the Bell Lightbox in September 2010, and immediately began year-round programming for movie lovers of all ages. In April, a new, ongoing Saturday matinee series, Family Classics, was launched after the conclusion of the increasingly popular Sprockets Film Festival for Children and Youth.
Families with older children enjoy the variety of movie options, exhibitions in the 5,000-square-foot museum space and special events such as Battle of the Scores, during which teen bands create the score for a short film.
“The smallest box, Cinema 5, even has seats that are removable so that it can be used as a black box production space, often for the youth programs, such as 2 Days to Make a Movie,” says Smith.
As many as eight films may be screened in a day, some for one day only, so do your research in advance. The unbelievably comfortable seating, in such intimate spaces (seating ranges from 80 in Cinema 5 to 536 in Cinema 1), with Dolby Surround-Sound and perfect sight lines, provide unforgettable movie experiences — whether you’re watching a resurrected Disney favorite, a Fellini “should see” or a new release.