The Cinema Studies Institute (CSI) at Innis College is celebrating 50 years of excellence in research and teaching, shining a spotlight on the impressive cast of faculty members and alumni who’ve made important contributions to academia and entertainment.
Some are professors and many have gone on to successful careers in the film industry and related fields, from criticism to festival programming. Prominent alumni include creators Linda Schuyler (Degrassi TV franchise), Stephanie Savage (Gossip Girl) and actor Sarah Gadon (Ferrari).
“Studying cinema at U of T shaped the trajectory of my career,” says Gadon, star of Netflix Canada’s upcoming first original series, Wayward.
Gadon, who moves seamlessly from film (The Amazing Spiderman 2) to television (Alias Grace), already had an active career when she decided to pursue her bachelor of arts degree as a member of Woodsworth College. Gadon says the program and mentors empowered her to choose roles that aligned with her artistic ambitions.
“As a young woman in the industry, there’s a lot of pressure to fit into these stereotypical boxes, but now I’m not concerned with being the lead — it’s more about who’s directing the film and their vision,” says Gadon.
Today, CSI is a robust academic and cultural presence at U of T, with undergraduate, master’s and PhD programs taught by 20 permanent faculty members, several of them cross-appointed from units at U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough. Like the hero of many great films, though, the program’s rise to prominence had a humble beginning.
The opening act
In 1969, there was no formal Cinema Studies program — or even a class — until administrators at Innis College asked Joe Medjuck, a PhD student in the Department of English, to lead the first introductory course. He eagerly accepted the challenge, even though there was no existing script to work from.
“I was always fascinated by film, but I made the course up out of thin air,” says Medjuck who later became a successful Hollywood producer, working with Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman.
Each week, Medjuck rolled a projector into the classroom while students took a seat on the floor. He started with the silent era and progressed to modern films. This first foray into cinema proved popular among students with a diverse range of academic interests and the demand for courses grew.
“My years at the University of Toronto were some of the most important in my life,” says Medjuck.
Another seminal figure in CSI’s early days, Professor Emerita Kay Armatage was a pioneer in women’s studies at U of T and taught a course on women’s cinema starting in 1974.
These early course offerings, tapping into the growing cultural prominence of film, helped cement Cinema Studies’ status as one of Innis College’s premier programs. So, it made sense for Innis Town Hall, a state-of-the-art screening facility, to be at the heart of the college when Innis moved into its first custom-built home in the mid-1970s.
Today, the venue serves hundreds of students taking CSI courses, and is the year-round forum to film festivals, industry previews and the Cinema Studies Student Union’s time-honoured Free Friday Films series.
The plot thickens
In 1975, the Cinema Studies program was granted “college status,” officially becoming part of Innis College’s academic offerings. The program's first director was Professor Gino Matteo from the Department of English.
Notably, the first instructors were not exclusive to the program — they weren’t even traditional film scholars — but rather professors from other departments who wanted to teach film.
“Their relationship with film scholarship was casual,” says Professor Bart Testa, one of CSI’s foundational faculty members. “They were self-taught, enthusiastic and added a great spirit to the beginnings.”
CSI faculty also worked with University of Toronto Libraries to amass a collection of film materials for Media Commons Archives, the largest repository for both archival and contemporary audio-visual research resources in any Canadian university.
Lights, camera, academia
In 1980, Medjuck left U of T to chase silver-screen dreams in California and professors from language departments played a pivotal role in steering Cinema Studies for the next two decades.
Armatage and Testa did much of the teaching, and their courses, often steeped in film theory, established CSI’s intellectual clout on campus. The program offered a minor, then a major and eventually a specialist concentration.
“I shout it from the mountaintops whenever I can; Bart Testa was incredibly important to my early education in cinema, as I served as a TA for him while barely out of my undergraduate English degree. And he was the backbone of the program's teaching power,” says former CSI director Charlie Keil, a cinema studies professor and principal of Innis College.
“Many students came to the program throughout the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s because of Bart. He was a galvanizing force in the classroom, and he injected a lot of intellectual rigour into the program.”
Enrolment continued to climb, and eventually Cinema Studies was able to bring on professors who had received graduate training in film as a discipline, though still in partnership with other academic units, such as the hiring of Keil during Professor Emeritus Cam Tolton’s tenure as director.
In the years that followed, under the leadership of Director Peter Fitting, professor with the Department of French, crucial appointments were made, including Kass Banning, Nic Sammond and future CSI Director Corinn Columpar.
When Keil became director in 2005, the process of establishing the MA and PhD programs was realized. This important era in the institute’s history meant faculty could now be hired without a cross-appointment, giving CSI more teaching power, and culminating in the institute welcoming its first doctoral cohort in 2013.
The faculty ranks swelled during the directorship of Associate Professor James Cahill, who made strategic hires that broadened Cinema Studies’ strengths in new areas of research, building on Columpar’s initial efforts.
Encore!
In honour of its 50th anniversary, CSI is hosting a series of film screenings. Each title is personally selected and presented by notable alumni, including Jesse Wente (Board Chair, Canada Council for the Arts) and Magali Simard (Director of Industry & Community Relations at Cinespace Studios).
The impressive roster of speakers demonstrates the institute’s deep influence, not just on filmmakers and academics, but across the industry.
“It’s hard to find a Canadian in the film space who doesn’t have some connection to CSI,” says current Director Alberto Zambenedetti, associate professor with the Department of Italian Studies.
Another distinguished alum, Diana Sanchez earned her master’s degree in cinema studies while serving as a programmer with the Toronto International Film Festival before eventually becoming a senior director.
“Studying cinema at U of T enabled me to have a much deeper understanding of the films I was working with,” says Sanchez, a sessional lecturer with the institute.
“After I got my degree, I became the founding artistic director of the Panama Film Festival, and my experience enabled me to articulate my vision.”
Looking ahead, the institute is expanding its curriculum to include various forms of media, including video games, but the expansion is occurring thoughtfully to avoid any overlap with other university programs and to stay true to the essence of cinema studies.
Input from CSI’s growing alumni network will also be essential to the institute’s continued success.
“We keep our alumni close,” adds Zambenedetti. “They’ll always be welcome as moderators and guest panellists to mentor the next generation.”
The A&S Communications and Public Affairs design team crafted a distinctive anniversary logo to commemorate 50 years of Cinema Studies. This design features a sleek, stylized "50" that will be featured prominently on various materials throughout the year-long celebration.