Cameron Bailey

For the New Zealand rugby union player, see Cameron Bailey (rugby union).

Cameron Bailey is a Canadian film critic and festival programmer, who is the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).^[1][2]

Cameron Bailey
Bailey in 2017
Born	London, England
Education	University of Western Ontario
Occupation(s)	Film critic, festival programmer

In August 2025, during his tenure as CEO, TIFF made the contentious decision to rescind its invitation to screen the documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, citing legal clearance requirements for footage, including material filmed by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks.^[3] However, the film was later reinvited to the festival.^[4]

Biography

Born in London, England to parents from Barbados,^[5] he spent his early childhood in St. James, Barbados, before moving to Canada with his family at the age of eight.^[5] Educated at the University of Western Ontario,^[5] he worked as a film reviewer for Now, Canada AM, CBC Radio One, Take One and other publications before joining the Toronto International Film Festival as a programmer.^[5]

He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1997 film The Planet of Junior Brown with Clement Virgo,^[5] and wrote and directed the short film Hotel Saudade.

In 2012, Bailey was named artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival.^[6]

He participated in the 2015 edition of Canada Reads, where he advocated for Kim Thúy's novel Ru.^[7] Ru ultimately won the competition.^[8]

In 2018, Bailey was promoted to the newly created position of artistic director and co-head of the Toronto International Film Festival.^[9] In 2021, following the resignation of co-head Joana Vicente, Bailey was named the festival's executive director.^[10]

On November 30, 2021, Bailey was made the Chief Executive Officer of TIFF after a 25 year career with the festival.^[11]

In 2024, he was named as a recipient of the Black Legacy Awards for distinguished cultural achievements by Black Canadians.^[12]

Controversy

In August 2025, TIFF withdrew its invitation for Barry Avrich's documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, which chronicles Israeli Major General Noam Tibon's efforts during the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks. TIFF stated that the filmmakers had not met its "general requirements for inclusion," specifically legal clearance of all footage—including sensitive material recorded and livestreamed by Hamas militants—which the festival said posed legal and security risks.^[13] In response, filmmakers accused TIFF of censorship; some critics characterized the decision as politically motivated.^[14] Bailey said it was "unequivocally false" the film was being censored. The film was reinvited to the festival as an official selection.^[4]

Selected publications

• Cameron Bailey (1999). Kay Armatage; Kass Banning; Brenda Longfellow; Janine Marchessault (eds.). A Cinema of Duty: The Films of Jennifer Hodge de Silva. Gendering the Nation: Canadian Women's Cinema. Toronto: University of Toronto. pp. 94–108.
• Cameron Bailey (1990). "A Cinema of Duty: The Films of Jennifer Hodge de Silva". CineAction. winter (23): 4–12. In this essay he honoured Jennifer Hodge de Silva.