TIFF Announces Special David Cronenberg Retrospective And Roadshow

As he hits the Croisette with his brand new film, Cosmopolis,  beloved Canadian auteur and Criterion staple David Cronenberg is set to be fodder for a new and brilliant sounding exhibit thanks to the Toronto International Film Festival.

Set to launch in the fall of next year, the exhibit will be turned into a roadshow the summer of 2014, and will feature artifacts, props, documents, interviews and ‘reconstructed set-pieces from Cronenberg’s films.’ There will even be a ‘multi-platform augmented reality game, The Worlds of David Cronenberg, which will complement and enrich the exhibition using a combination of social media technologies. A dedicated film programme with newly struck 35mm prints and new digital versions of select films will accompany the exhibition.’

In what is easily the most extensive look at Cronenberg’s career, this is one of the most interesting sounding retrospectives in some time. The idea of an AR game being made based on his work is insanely enthralling, and makes me hope like all hell that this sucker makes its way to somewhere near me. Toss in some newly minted 35mm prints of his classic works, and you have a true must-attend retrospective.

Here’s the press release:

TIFF CELEBRATES DAVID CRONENBERG WITH NEW EXHIBITION

TIFF’s first ever major original touring exhibition launches in Fall 2013

Toronto ‘”   Days away from the hotly anticipated world premiere of David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, Piers Handling, Director and CEO, TIFF and Noah Cowan, Artistic Director, TIFF Bell Lightbox, announced today that TIFF will mount a major exhibition related to the Canadian director, screenwriter and actor. The Cronenberg exhibition, set to launch in Fall 2013 at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, is co-curated by Handling and Cowan and will be accompanied by several additional elements, including a newly commissioned augmented reality game and a dedicated film programme. This marks the first time TIFF has curated an original exhibition of this magnitude, which will be packaged to tour beginning Summer 2014.

‘David Cronenberg is one of the world’s greatest living filmmakers. He also represents Canadian cinema at its very best. This exhibition underscores our commitment to Canadian film and its legacy, through our 20-year history of working with David to preserve his papers and objects in a special archive, and our efforts to restore and make available his film catalogue,’ said Handling. Added Cowan: ‘This is a major milestone for our organization and we can’t wait to present our exhibition to film lovers at TIFF Bell Lightbox next fall and to make it available to leading cultural institutions worldwide.’

Through the presentation of artifacts, props, documentation and audio-visual interviews, as well as reconstructed set-pieces from Cronenberg’s films, the exhibition parallels his growth as a filmmaker with his ongoing examination and interpretation of human evolutionary possibilities, tracing his work from a focus on biological change towards examinations of shifting psychological states. A parallel art project based on the same themes will be announced at a later date.

TIFF will also create an online experience with a multi-platform augmented reality game, The Worlds of David Cronenberg, that will complement and enrich the exhibition using a combination of social media technologies. A dedicated film programme with newly struck 35mm prints and new digital versions of select films will accompany the exhibition.  

Additional information on the exhibition, including the title, augmented reality game, film programme, touring destinations and additional initiatives tied to the exhibition, will be available over the coming months.  

Source: TIFF