Cameron Bailey

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

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. However, the film was later reinvited to the festival.

Biography Born in London, England to parents from Barbados, he spent his early childhood in St. James, Barbados, before moving to Canada with his family at the age of eight.

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

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

On November 30, 2021, Bailey was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of TIFF after a 25 year career with the festival.

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

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 to save his son Amir and family who were holed up in their safe room on Kibbutz Nahal Oz while Hamas terrorists were killing their neighbours.

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. In response, filmmakers accused TIFF of censorship; some critics characterized the decision as politically motivated. Bailey said it was "unequivocally false" the film was being censored. The film was reinvited to the festival as an official selection.

Selected publications

In this essay he honoured Jennifer Hodge de Silva.