Every monsoon, for the last 13 years, Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has been coming to Mumbai to scout for talented Indian filmmakers to present their films at Toronto. Single handedly, he has managed to get over 50 Indian filmmakers to showcase their work in global markets. Toronto, among all international film festivals, has picked maximum number of Indian films for screening.

“What I love about India is that, it is the world’s most film passionate country in the world. You can talk to anyone in this country and everyone has got an opinion about films. This is not the case anywhere in the world. This is the cultural norm. I love movies and I love to come to the country which loves movies the most,” says Cameron, who will be the new Co-Director of TIFF beginning October 1.

TIFF Director and CEO Piers Handling will step down after the 43rd edition of TIFF, while veteran Indie film producer Joana Vicente will join as Co-Director and run TIFF’s business operations.

TIFF Board Member Jennifer Tory said recently that “Joana and Cameron are the perfect duo to take TIFF into the future”.

Cameron scouts for films within the diversity of India itself. Last year, one of the most successful films at TIFF was Village Rockstars by Rima Das, who is from North East India.

He is also much more flexible in embracing change than others in understanding the changing audience. “I think people will want to watch movies on whatever screens they want to. The real power of the movie is not in the size of the screen or sound system or anything like that. It is how they move you as an individual and as a group watching it together,” says Cameron. TIFF has picked Netflix’s eight films this year.

“I am very happy that Confederation of Indian Industry is brining a delegation to Toronto this year. It is a great opportunity to meet people here. It is a place where Indian industry should be present every year,” says Cameron.