Toronto Film Festival programmer Ravi Srinivasan dies at 37

Ravi Srinivasan, Senior Director of Festival Programming at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), died over the weekend. He was 37.

Born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario with Indian and Filipino cultural roots, Srinivasan studied the film and English literature at Wilfrid Laurier University and film production at Sheridan College. He was International Programmer at Hot Docs, Founder and Executive Director of the Southwest International Film Festival, and Senior Programmer for National Canadian Film Day.

Since 2013, Srinivasan has contributed to TIFF's programming team and served as senior director of the festival programming, with an emphasis on programming feature films from South Asia, the Philippines and Canada, at the time of his death. He has also served on the board of the Regent Park Film Festival and the Future of Film Showcase.

News of Srinivasan's death sent shockwaves through the entire industry. TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey paid tribute to Srinivasan in a series of tweets.

"We are saddened and shocked to learn of the sudden passing of our colleague and friend Ravi Srinivasan. As a programmer, champion filmmaker and director of his hometown film festival in Sarnia, Ontario, Ravi was known to many for his passion, generosity and the joy he brought to filmmaking,” Bailey tweeted. /p>

"Ravi's deep knowledge of cinema and his passion for cinema as an art form inclusive have helped transform film culture in Canada. For Ravi, who has drawn on both his Filipino and Indian heritage in his work, representation has always mattered. This has been embedded in the way he viewed films. films and how he invited all audiences to engage with the on-screen stories that moved them."

"I was fortunate to work with Ravi for almost a decade. I've always appreciated his sharp perspectives on movies, but what I loved the most was his sense of humor and his generosity to everyone. Ravi Srinivasan has embraced life, films and people, in all their complexity. He will be greatly missed," added Bailey.

Nisha Pahuja, Director of Hot Docs and Tribeca "The World Before Her" winner tweeted: " Quite gutted… RIP Ravi. We will miss you."

set up to increase funeral and memorial spending Srinivasan has already raised over CAD 61,000 ( $45,500) of his goal of CAD 75,000 ($56,000).

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