Tiff Gala Opens with Canada-made Documentary

Special Correspondent

Malti Sahai

For the first time in its history, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) opened with a Canada-made documentary.

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band had its world premiere at the opening ceremony. The film tells the story of the Ontario-born musician’s early life and the formation of “one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music,” organizers said in a news release.

Inspired by Robertson’s 2016 memoir Testimony and directed by non-fiction filmmaker Daniel Roher, the documentary combines archival footage, photography and some of The Band’s most iconic music. It also includes interviews with some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel and Martin Scorsese, who helped develop the documentary as executive producer.

Scorsese famously filmed The Band’s 1976 farewell concert appearance in San Francisco, and later used the footage in his 1978 documentary The Last Waltz.

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band was featured at the TIFF opening-night gala at Roy Thomson Hall in downtown Toronto on September 5.

“This is one of Toronto’s great stories of a hometown hero,” said Cameron Bailey.

“From his early years in this city to the inspiration he took from life on the Six Nations reserve, to the impact he’s had on generations of music lovers, Robertson emerges in Roher’s film as a truly Canadian made superstar.” In one stroke the festival has given a boost to both indigenous cinema and the documentary cinema movement.

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