A STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY and land acknowledgement FROM TOPS BOARD AND STAFF
Toronto Outdoor Picture Show wishes to acknowledge that our programming takes place on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, a land that is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples from across Turtle Island. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit. We are grateful to be able to take up space in Tkarónto and on Turtle island every day.
Toronto Outdoor Picture Show (TOPS) stands in solidarity with Black and Indigenous communities and supports ongoing protests and activism against anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and police violence in Canada, the United States, and around the world over the past many years and throughout history. Having held our signature series, Christie Pits Film Festival, for 10 years on the site of the 1933 Christie Pits Riot, we recognize the importance of civil disobedience and protest as a significant strategy to fight back against racism in all its forms.
We mourn with the families and communities of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Chantal Moore, Dominique Rem’mie Fells, Riah Milton, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rodney Levi, Rayshard Brooks and countless others as they continue to seek justice. We support those who call to defund and disarm the police as a significant step toward justice and reparations for centuries of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous violence.
As film curators and gatekeepers in the Canadian film industry, we recognize that the film industry in particular has contributed to cultural narratives that have ignored the lived experiences of minority groups and normalized violence against Black and Indigenous communities. More than a century of systemic racism -- on screen and behind the scenes -- is woven into the fabric of the film industry and has done significant harm. We recognize that we have a curatorial responsibility to create a local film culture that allows Black and Indigenous voices to thrive.
Toronto Outdoor Picture Show is committed to:
Providing a platform for Black and Indigenous filmmakers and filmmakers from other equity-seeking groups by ensuring that short and feature films by Black and Indigenous filmmakers are included in all of our programmes
Providing an inclusive and welcoming space for all audiences, with zero tolerance for racism at all our events
Adding more diverse voices to our leadership and operations, particularly in paid roles for BIPOC professionals as curators, advisors, and jury members
Supporting non-white owned small businesses as vendors at our events
Continuing to have conversations about confronting racism internally and externally, and continuing to advocate for systemic change within the film industry
We encourage our audiences and supporters to join members of the TOPS Board and staff in donating their time and/or financial resources to organizations which elevate and foster the talents of BIPOC filmmakers, including:
Black Women Film! Canada
Black Youth! Pathway 2 Industry
Nia Centre for the Arts
Toronto Black Film Festival
ImagineNATIVE
Caribbean Tales
Wapikoni
BIPOC TV & FILM
Regent Park Film Festival
If you have any questions about this statement or about how we plan to maintain our commitments, please send us an email at info@topictureshow.com or board@topictureshow.com.