Canadian Movie News - Northernstars.ca

World Coming to Toronto
By Staff

(August 21, 2012 - Toronto, Ontario) It's an old joke, about how Toronto thinks it's the centre of the universe. But there are times when events conspire to make it look like that and next month is starting to shape up to be a record month. First there's the Toronto International Film Festival, which will host 146 world movie premieres this year. Then later in September, performers from more than 75 countries, from Argentina to Zambia, will be descending on the city for a week of solidarity-building at the 2012 International Federation of Actors (FIA) World Congress.

Running from September 27 to 30, the World Congress will be co-hosted by the three Canadian performer unions, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (Equity) and Union des Artistes (UdA). This marks only the second time in FIA's 61-year history that a Congress has met in North America.

“Canadian performers are excited to host our peers from around the globe as we build global solidarity, tackle our common challenges and share our experiences as professional performers,” said Raymond Legault, President, UdA.

“Changing technology and the increasing insecurity in the working conditions of performers impact us no matter where we live. Congress will be a time for us to plan, to learn from one another, and to reinforce the strength of the worldwide performers’ community,” said Ferne Downey, ACTRA National President.

FIA is an international non-governmental organization based in Brussels, representing some 100 performers' unions in 75 countries. As the governing body of FIA, the Congress meets every four years to develop policies that support the fight for improved economic, artistic, social and legal interests of professional performers – actors, broadcast professionals, dancers, singers, variety and circus artists, and more.

“Congress is a chance for artists associations from around the world to share information, help each other develop best practices and support each other as we fight for the rights of performers - from the basics of pay and working conditions to more global issues like freedom of speech and human rights,” said Allan Teichman, President of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

The FIA 2012 Congress will include a celebration of the new Beijing Treaty, concluded in June at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Diplomatic Conference. FIA was a driving force behind the successful conclusion of the historic Audiovisual Performances Treaty (AVPT) that enshrines moral and economic rights for audio-visual performers into international law.