Kevin Tierney: TIFF's glory days appear to be over

The first time I attended the Cannes Film Festival in 1981, I was fortunate to meet a wise man named Jean Lefebvre, who then was in charge of Canada’s participation in international film festivals as part of the federal Ministry of Culture.
Seeing the slightly overwhelmed face of a novice Cannes attendee, Lefebvre explained to me that the role of festivals was to serve as a multiplier. That meant the people watching films at Cannes were decidedly not film consumers out for a good time. The