"The Tree of Cinema" Installation Brought Film History and Its Audiences Together at TIFF 2026
Oct 18, 2026
TORONTO - Oct. 18, 2026 - PRLog -- Created exclusively for TIFF at the festival's invitation, "The Tree of Cinema" by Toronto-based artists Yury Goncharov and Alina Tacmelova marked the opening of the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. The installation appeared on Festival Street near Roy Thomson Hall from September 10–13.
Standing 11 feet tall with a nine-foot-wide canopy, the sculpture reimagines a tree through the materials and imagery of filmmaking. Its patinated steel trunk evokes cinema's industrial foundations. Hundreds of flowing strips resembling film combine recognizable cinematic moments with photographs of audiences watching, gathering, laughing, crying, and reflecting.
Drawing on the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, the work explores how stories and experiences pass between generations. It also takes inspiration from Agnès Varda's human approach to memory, everyday life, and filmmaking.
"We wanted to give physical form to something that usually remains invisible: what people carry with them after a film ends," the artists explain.
Visitors could walk around and beneath the canopy, entering a structure that celebrates cinema as a shared experience. As films are increasingly watched alone on personal screens, the installation highlighted the social ritual of strangers gathering around the same story. Festival Street audiences responded enthusiastically, while TIFF organizers noted its emotional connection with viewers.
Art critic and AICA member Julia Sysalova observed that placing spectators alongside film imagery gives audiences a visible role in cinematic history, turning the act of looking into a spatial encounter.
Goncharov contributed sculptural thinking, engineering, and material experimentation; Tacmelova brought research into memory, human connection, and participation. Toronto-area studio Custom Engineered Arts fabricated the installation, translating the concept into a large-scale sculpture. Following its Festival Street presentation, the work will move to TIFF Lightbox, the festival's year-round Toronto home.
About the Artists
Yury Goncharov, born in Ukraine and based in Toronto, works across sculpture, collectible design, and public installation. His work has appeared at Isola Design Festival and Good Selection during Milan Design Week, the Interior Design Show Toronto, and DesignTO Festival.
Alina Tacmelova is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist and documentary filmmaker working across installation, moving image, and performance. Her film Pearls of Memories won Best Experimental Film at the 2026 Swedish International Film Festival and received an Honorable Mention in the Best Inspirational Film category at WSXA Paris in 2026.
[email protected]
Photos: (Click photo to enlarge)
Source: Alina Tacmelova and Yury Goncharov
Read Full Story - "The Tree of Cinema" Installation Brought Film History and Its Audiences Together at TIFF 2026 | More news from this source
Press release distribution by PRLog
More News
Oklahoma Families Faced the Hottest Summer Ever and an Electricity Crisis
Record heat and a rising demand for electricity are closing in on Oklahoma families trying to keep the lights on and the AC running.
Sri Lankan writer Nifraz Rifaz’s debut novel confronts Islamophobia after Easter bombings
On September 22, after a five-year trial, 15 men from Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim community were convicted and sentenced to 200 to 260 years in prison each for their involvement in the 2019 Easter bombings. The coordinated suicide attacks on luxury hotels and Christian places of worship on April 21, 2019, remain one of the deadliest terror incidents in the island nation’s history, claiming more than 250 lives. While the devastation and subsequent investigations were covered widely in the global...
Gleaning group gives £1m of produce to food banks
Gleaning Cornwall warns that more funding is needed as costs rise sharply.
Planning A Long Trip? Here Are 51 Products That May Come In Handy
Lucky you! Now let's get you packed and ready. View Entire Post ›
What is the Budget and what could be in it?
Chancellor John Healey will set out his plans for UK taxes on 28 October.
If You’re A Bit Of A Chaos Traveler, You Need These 34 Products More Than Anyone
Come here, fellow walking messes. It's time to invest in a slim wallet tracker and some shoe bags for your dirty sneaks. View Entire Post ›
3 Charts That Explain the Economy as Voters Head to the Polls
Inflation is high, consumer spending is strong and seemingly everything depends on what happens with artificial intelligence.
United’s C.E.O. Says It Should Cost More Not to Sit in the Middle Seat
Scott Kirby of United Airlines said that “it’s expensive to fly airplanes” and that airfares may have further to rise.
With Michelin’s Green Star gone, Hong Kong seeks to redefine sustainable dining
David Toutain witnessed the birth of the Michelin Green Star in 2020. His eponymous restaurant in Paris was among the first to be awarded while Feuille, his Hong Kong outpost, secured one within a year of its 2023 opening. But even when Michelin quietly retired the award this year, he still never understood exactly how it was assessed. “I have no idea,” he says. “I don’t know the rules. I don’t know anything about it, to be very honest.” His confusion points to a larger problem. The Green Star...
‘Hong Kong would be impossible.’ Why the newest Fotografiska photo museum is in Shenzhen
Contemporary photography museum Fotografiska’s newest outpost in Shenzhen is strikingly different from its original venue in Stockholm, Sweden – in the former customs building on the Stadsgardshamnen waterfront – or its Shanghai location, which opened in 2023 inside the Guang San Warehouse. In Shenzhen, a technological metropolis where sleek high-rises and futuristic cultural venues continue to emerge, the museum integrates into the modern urban landscape with a crisp white rectangular facade...
Turning the tides: Could hidden sea power energise our coastal towns?
Engineer David Mummery has developed a tidal energy generator that he says can change lives for people living in coastal communities.
'I took a chance on the whisky industry and I haven't looked back'
Zoey Darnbrough had no idea there was a distillery near her home - now she has a top tourism role there.
YOUR NEWS, OUR NETWORK.
Do you have Great News you want to tell the world?
Be it updates about your business or your community, you can make sure that it’s heard by submitting your story to our network reaching hundreds of news sites across 6 verticals.