Unlike Cannes or Berlin, Toronto has never been a market-first festival. But ahead of the launch of the official TIFF market next year, Toronto is looking to boost its industry credentials, positioning itself as the go-to for finished films — particularly mainstream English-language fare — without domestic distribution.

“Given the uncertainty in the movie exhibition space right now, [Toronto’s] going to give us a real snapshot of what the people who release movies think can work in the marketplace,” says Steven Soderbergh, who brings his latest, The Christophers , to TIFF without a distributor. “There’s no better barometer of what’s happening than a bunch of people who have to put movies out into theaters, making decisions about what they think can succeed.”

Unlike Cannes or Berlin, To

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