Criterion has opened a Canadian home in Toronto’s entertainment district.
In conjunction with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the New York-based entertainment distribution company opened its first Canadian physical store at home video store Cinema Cellar. The new space, located at 129 John Street next to the TIFF Lightbox and Scotiabank Theatre, offers Canadians a great place to purchase all sorts of their favorite films. Criterion is acquiring the TIFF store and will then have a permanent section along with other film companies.
Anne Kawalerski, Criterion’s chief marketing officer, says the idea for the new Toronto store came about after the company saw more than 1,000 film fans visit the Criterion Mobile Closet during last year’s TIFF.
“We had this moment of, ‘Oh my god, there’s a demand for physical media, there’s a demand for the Criterion Collection, and there’s a demand for the community. So how are we thinking about this year as we approach TIFF, doing something a little bigger?” she says. “We’re going to be here after the festival, which we’re really excited about, to recreate a video store-like environment because we know people are hungry to browse and discover a third place to talk to each other about the movies they love.”
Walking into the store on the first day of TIFF, I realized that Criterion’s passion for celebrating cinema is everywhere. In addition to walls of neatly organized shelves showcasing everyone from Martin Scorsese and Federico Fellini to Akira Kurosawa and Edward Young, posters and specialty merchandise like T-shirts and hats can be found throughout. There’s even an opportunity to preview upcoming titles: Criterion is offering an early look at the special box set The Complete Kubrick, featuring 13 films, three featurettes, and more than 20 hours of extras.
The store also pays homage to Criterion’s popular video series “The Closet,” in which directors, actors and other guests discuss their favorite films while highlights are shown on a TV screen (Laura Dern during my visit). There’s also a cozy Polaroid wall featuring many of these guests, like Francis Ford Coppola, Toronto’s David Cronenberg and even Charlie XCX.
Kawalerski says the new space in Toronto is a particularly good fit given the “passion” surrounding films here, and last year’s Criterion Mobile Closet is a perfect example.
“We were delighted with who came. Probably about 80 per cent of the people were under 30, so there was just a huge amount of young people coming out – the variety was amazing,” she says. “So, the idea of younger generations interacting with physical media and film was so powerful, and we definitely wanted to make sure that we responded to that and gave them more and more to embrace.”
Of course, these kinds of film preservation efforts are all the more relevant in the digital age, especially as we see companies like Sony planning to stop making PlayStation games while revoking access to hundreds of purchased films due to expired licenses.
According to Kawalerski, Criterion’s work is important not only to preserve access to films, but also to better reflect the intentions behind those works.
“We want to make sure that we give people the finished piece of art that the director and director intended. So that’s really important to us, especially in the digital age and artificial intelligence when everything is changing. [We’re] making sure we’re really presenting what was intended and then obviously building on that,” she says, noting that there’s extra material like behind-the-scenes videos, director’s cuts, essays and more.
“So, what else can we actually surround the film with to ensure that we’re giving people that extra context so that they really understand the story behind the story and understand how to think about the film?”
Admittedly, the films can be a bit pricey. Since I’ve always wanted to celebrate Canadian artists, I bought one of my favorite Cronenberg paintings. History of violence and it cost $46. (It is, however, a 4K/Blu-ray combo with special packaging.) Still, the work Criterion is doing is critical from a preservation standpoint, and as Kawalerski has previously said, a sense of community can definitely be felt as people excitedly grab their favorite films and create impromptu “Wardrobe Picks” videos.
Considering I often travel downtown to see TIFF or Scotiabank films, I for one am looking forward to adding Cinema Cellar to the rotation.
Update: 10/09/2026 at 2:54 pm ET – It has been clarified that Criterion will take full control of the Cinema Cellar for TIFF, but after that it will have a section along with other film companies.
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