A-list celebrities join hundreds of actors calling on TIFF to sever relations with RBC – The Varsity

TIFF sponsor RBC is a major investor in fossil fuels. ZEYNEP POYANLI/THEVARSITY

Open letter calls for fossil fuel developments and violence against the Wet’suwet’en Nation

Hollywood stars including Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Edward Norton and Joaquin Phoenix are the latest among over 300 actors and filmmakers to sign an open letter to Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) CEO Cameron Bailey urging him to do so , to terminate the festival’s long-standing sponsorship agreement with the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in 2024.

The letter, published on September 6, was written by filmmakers and activists Elza Kephart and Jose Luis Gutierrez.

It calls RBC a “global fossil fuel extraction leader” that is complicit in perpetuating violence against “Indigenous and BIPOC organizations and nations” by “indiscriminately enabling projects on their lands.”

In 2022, RBC became the world’s largest investor in climate destruction with its investments in fossil fuels. In 2022 alone, the bank approved more than $42 billion for fossil fuel development – ​​and $253.9 billion since 2016.

In 2022, RBC sponsored the construction of Coastal Gaslink, a pipeline being built through the territory of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) entered homes and arrested Wet’suwet’en land defenders for demonstrating against the pipeline. Ricochet’s previous reporting has drawn attention to parallels between the RCMP’s tactics in the Wet’suwet’en raid and the wartime strategies of David Petraeus, the former U.S. commander and CIA director stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. directed.

The open letter states that RBC “denied.” [Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs] Access to its general meeting [annual general meeting] even though we have the relevant papers.” This has stifled the country’s ability to protest RBC’s actions against its people and on its territory.

“If we want to play a meaningful role in combating the climate crisis and stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples, we cannot ignore our industry’s role in shaping culture,” the letter said.
“We cannot tacitly support RBC by allowing it to be the leading partner in Canadian film.”

Dissonance in TIFF’s commitment to social justice

Chief Na’Moks, a Wet’su’wet’en hereditary chief, explained in an interview with Deadline that “while TIFF honors socially conscious films and highlights indigenous filmmakers… it is incoherent.” [that the festival is] to engage with Canada’s worst offenders on social issues.”

Films like Daniel Goldberg’s 2022 eco-thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline, which premiered at TIFF, expose this dissonance. How can a film that advocates sabotage of fossil fuel infrastructure as a necessary tool to combat climate change be financed by the world’s largest oil and gas investor?

RBC has been a TIFF sponsor for 16 years. The bank donates an estimated $1 million annually to the festival. This year, the money will go mostly to the Los Angeles Times Studio, which partnered with TIFF to conduct interviews with directors and prominent actors, to an afterparty venue called RBC House, to an event for The Black Academy on September 10th and the TIFF Every Story Accelerator program.

However, given TIFF’s “over 100 corporate sponsors and $45 million in revenue,” the letter states that “TIFF is well positioned to replace RBC’s estimated $1 million per year and find less damaging sponsors.” Activists argue that TIFF’s abandonment of its RBC sponsorship would represent a major step toward discrediting the bank due to the festival’s influence and respect across Toronto.

The answers to the letter are inadequate

Judy Lung, TIFF’s vice president of public relations and communications, responded to the letter, saying the festival is “committed to and recognizes environmental sustainability.”[s] the importance of addressing climate change quickly and collectively.” Lung claims TIFF is “in active discussion with RBC” on the matter.

However, Lung did not address RBC’s active role in violence against indigenous peoples. This appears to undermine the recognition of the country that Bailey delivered at the start of the festival. “We are grateful to work on this land and support the work of film storytellers from First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities,” Bailey said Sept. 10.

RBC also responded, claiming that “more action is needed at a faster pace to address the problem.” [climate change]“ and therefore the bank “welcome.”[s] the chance for dialogue [with TIFF].”

RBC also said it continues to “work with Indigenous communities to advance reconciliation together.”

But Canada’s competition regulator has been investigating RBC since last fall for misleading customers about its environmental practices, casting serious doubt on the banks’ commitments.

Kephart, co-author of the letter, said in an interview with Deadline: “Filmmakers have spoken: We want oil.” [and] Gas from our industry. Now TIFF must choose between a particularly problematic sponsor and its community.”

A growing chorus of RBC critics

The letter to TIFF is part of a nationwide movement to divest and delist RBC.

Activist groups at at least 15 university campuses across Canada, including the University of British Columbia and Western University, have launched campaigns to sever their universities’ ties with the bank. Here at U of T, the student-led environmental movement Climate Justice UofT is pushing to remove RBC from the St. George campus. RBC has a branch and ATM in the Student Commons and invests in several internship and scholarship programs at Rotman Commerce. Last year, the University of Toronto Student Union agreed to divest from RBC, which activists on campus hope would be the first step toward removing the bank from campus entirely.