For the love of film, the St. Regis Toronto gets ‘surreal’ for TIFF

The St. Regis Toronto will celebrate the return of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as an official hotel partner with a lineup of exquisite hotel programming from September 8-18th. Partnering with TIFF’s official closing gala film, Daliland, the hotel plays host to an experiential Daliland set exhibit showcasing the St. Regis’ role at the heart of the film. The immersive activation will see The St. Regis Toronto’s hotel lobby transformed with a replica of the St. Regis suite used in the film, famously home to iconic surrealist artist, Salvador Dalí who lived there each winter for over 40 years at The St. Regis New York. Capping it all off is the launch of Astor Lounge’s new Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne menu and limited-edition Dali-themed Afternoon Tea menu available on weekends until October 16th.

TIFF’s official closing gala film, Daliland, directed by Canadian master auteur, Mary Harron (American Psycho) and starring Sir Ben Kingsley as Salvador Dali, is centred around Dali’s intimate connection to the St. Regis brand. For over 40 years, whenever the artist and his wife visited New York City, they made their home in Suite 1501 of The St. Regis New York for months at a time. It was here that Dali famously knocked a wall down between two rooms to create a larger studio for his painting, and it is this room that serves as both the background and heart of Daliland. From its inception, the St. Regis brand served as an intimate collaborator on the film, providing the production with historical insights to ensure authenticity and bring Daliland to life.

It is this storyline that reportedly informs every aspect of TIFF activity at The St. Regis Toronto where a team of craftsmen have built a replica of the St. Regis suite used by Dalí as his New York studio in the lobby level. The Production Designer of Daliland, Isona Rigau, shared elements and materials from the film for Toronto-based production designer Joshua Turpin and art director Steven Bennet to transport guests into Daliland circa 1974. Sidney Leeder is producing the installation which was designed by New York based artist Matthew Tierney.

From September 8-18, 2022, guests experiencing the Daliland Set Exhibit will also enjoy nightly live jazz performances, Dali-inspired cocktails including the Casanova—a recipe created by Dali himself, Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne-infused bites and a daily Champagne sabrage ritual at 6:00 pm daily amongst genuine and rare Salvador Dali sculptures on loan from Hazelton Galleries—the only available to be sold in Canada.

The pop-up also harnesses the incredible technology DALL·E, the leading AI system from OpenAI that generates original art from a text description, to allow guests to create unique and personal works of art inspired by the film. The intention of the space is to establish a relationship among guests, Salvador Dali himself, and cutting-edge AI technology to build an exciting and thought-provoking experience that sparks creation, ideation, and conversation on the nature of Surrealism in 2022.

At the end of their experience, guests will take away a digital copy of their DALL·E generated artwork and will have opportunities to have photographs taken of them in the studio set.

The pop-up kicks off at 7:30 pm on September 8th and will run daily from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm through the closing day of TIFF on September 18th. The film is written by Mary Harron, written by John Walsh, stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Chris Briney, Andreja Pejic and Suki Waterhouse, is produced by Edward R. Pressman, David O Sacks, Chris Curling, Daniel Brunt and Sam Pressman.