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TIFF and Crave Just Launched a Stay-At-Home Cinema Series

“During these challenging times, we continue to look for ways to keep people connected, comforted, and entertained, and the power of film and TV accomplishes just that."

With the Prime Minister urging Canadians to stay at home, and citizens around the country doing the responsible thing by self-isolating, we’re more in need of things to watch and do at home than ever. But more importantly, we’re in need of community, of the feeling that we’re all in this together. To that end, TIFF has teamed up with streaming service Crave to offer movie lovers a place to gather virtually every week.

Each Friday, their Stay-At-Home Cinema series will offer virtual Q&As with actors and filmmakers, followed by a screening of a film available on Crave’s service. The series kicks off with a screening of the classic film The Princess Bride, preceded by a conversation between TIFF Artistic Director and Co-Head Cameron Bailey and award-winning actor Mandy Patinkin, star of the film, on Instagram Live. The Q&A begins at 7pm EDT on TIFF’s Instagram account (@tiff_net), with the virtual viewing party commencing at 7.20pm EDT.

“TIFF is looking for every opportunity to continue doing what we do best: building bridges between great films and passionate audiences,” said Bailey in a statement. “The Princess Bride is the first of many shared at-home experiences TIFF and Crave will offer to movie lovers everywhere.”

Additional movie titles — all available on Crave — along with special guests will be announced each week on TIFF and Crave’s social media channels. For those new to Crave, the Canadian platform is providing one month of free access to new subscribers. Available now through April 30, the one-time-only offer is for first-time, direct-to-consumer subscribers, and can be accessed on the Crave app or Crave.ca.

“During these challenging times, we continue to look for ways to keep people connected, comforted, and entertained, and the power of film and TV accomplishes just that. It was important for us to work with TIFF on bringing these meaningful films to life,” said Randy Lennox, President of Bell Media, which owns Crave.

For a roundup of other virtual communities springing up on the internet courtesy of artists like Miley Cyrus and Rupi Kaur, click here.

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