Toronto International Film Festival Announces New Programmer For Southeast Asian Cinema

Fluent in many languages including English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Thai as well as proficient in French, Phathanavirangoon ("PA-tha-NA-vih-RAN-goon") previously worked as Director of Marketing & Special Projects for international sales agent Fortissimo Films, where he was responsible for the acquisition of Asian films. He has been the International Programmer at the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival, and was previously the English Editor for the Hong Kong International Film Festival. He was a member of the Teddy Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007.

"Asian cinema continues to thrive internationally, " said TIFF Co-Director Cameron Bailey. "This appointment confirms our ongoing commitment to bringing the best in Asian cinema to our Festival audiences."

Phathanavirangoon will be co-programming Asian films alongside veteran TIFF programmer Giovanna Fulvi. He will be responsible for selecting films from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Phillippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, while Fulvi will continue to program titles from mainland China, Japan and South Korea. He will be attending the upcoming Cannes Film Festival as part of TIFF's delegation.

The Toronto International Film Festival Group (TIFFG) is a charitable, not-for-profit, cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world. Its vision is to lead the world in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image.

The Group embodies a passion for film and a commitment to making a difference in people’s lives. With an annual budget of nearly $20 million, the Group has grown exponentially from its roots as a modest “Festival of Festivals” expanding its breadth across the globe and reaching audiences of 900,000 per year. Currently, the Group employs more than 120 full-time staff, 500 part-time and seasonal staff, and counts on the largesse of more than 2,000 volunteers year-round.

TIFFG’s capital project to build Bell Lightbox is generously supported by founding sponsor Bell, the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario which have each contributed $25 million. The King and John Festival Corporation, which is comprised of The Daniels Corporation, Ivan Reitman, and his sisters Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels, has donated a gift of more than $22 million. As well, numerous other individuals and corporations have contributed to the Bell Lightbox campaign including, but not limited to: CIBC, The Copyright Collective of Canada, NBC Universal Canada, VISA, Allan Slaight and family, Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, the TIFFG Board of Directors and our staff. The total raised to date is $137 million, two-thirds of the total campaign of the $196 million.