In some bad news that seemed inevitable, but still is quite sad, Toronto After Dark Festival Director Adam Lopez released a statement last night stating that due to forces beyond his control, the 2024 edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival has been postponed until 2025. In addition, Lopez noted that he will be stepping down as Festival Director after 17 years. Fellow founding Toronto After Dark programmer Peter Kuplowski, currently the TIFF Midnight Madness programmer, has been named Festival Legacy Director for the 2025 edition of Toronto After Dark to help the festival move on to an era without Adam Lopez at the lead.
For those unaware, Adam Lopez has been battling Stage IV cancer of the head and throat since 2021. Despite initially being given one year to live, Adam Lopez proved quite resilient in this treatment, entering near-remission at one point, which allowed him to attend the 2022 and 2023 editions of the festival. However, the cancer returned with a vengeance over the last year and Adam Lopez released a sobering update on his worsening condition in July:
I have been attending Toronto After Dark since 2009 and became an accredited media for the festival in 2012. As press, I developed a friendship with Adam Lopez over the last decade and he often appreciated it when I would recommend films that I enjoyed at Fantasia for that year’s Toronto After Dark selection. I also greatly appreciated it when he stood up for me last year when my status as press was threatened due to my previous anxiety-induced outbursts. In addition, the fact that he is only a decade older than me and is fighting a life-threatening cancer diagnosis has made me think about my mortality.
When Adam Lopez’s cancer began to come back before last year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival, I ended up dedicating my coverage of the festival that year to him. I donated to Sunnybrook and added a link to the bottom of all my reviews. In light of this news, I thought that I would conclude this piece by sharing that donation link one last time.
