Filmmakers, celebs ask TIFF to cut ties with sponsor RBC over environmental concerns

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A woman walks along the closed-off streets at the Toronto International Film Festival, in Toronto, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Hollywood A-listers Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams are among 200-plus film industry workers around the world who signed an open letter imploring the Toronto International Film Festival to end ties with sponsor, the Royal Bank of Canada.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

A group of Canadian filmmakers have joined forces with Hollywood A-listers in asking the Toronto International Film Festival to end sponsorship ties with the Royal Bank of Canada because of the bank's funding of the oil and gas industry.

Organizers of the campaign called RBC Off Screen say the financial institution's track record of investing in fossil fuels runs contrary to the socially progressive values the film festival purports to stand for.

Signatories to the group's open letter to TIFF outlining its concerns include screen stars Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Joaquin Phoenix, alongside filmmakers and producers including Avi Lewis, Elza Kephart and Jose Luis Gutierrez.

Kephart and Gutierrez started the campaign they say have the support of more than 200 industry workers. The group's statement says RBC is one of the largest financiers of oil and gas projects in the world and supports projects that have negatively impacted Indigenous lands and BIPOC groups.

TIFF's vice-president of public relations Judy Lung said in a statement the festival appreciates the sustainability concerns being brought forward, and that they talking to RBC about them.

RBC spokesperson Stephanie Bannan said in a statement that more action is needed on climate change and the company welcomes the chance to discuss the issues with Indigenous groups and the film community.