How important is Saturday Night at the Movies?  TV Ontario –the Ontario equivalent to PBS—has many sorts of educational programming.  SNAM is the furthest thing from a genuine curriculum, and precisely for that reason, likely one of our farthest reaching examples of educational programming.

Think of fluoride in the water supply, working on your dental hygiene whether you care or not.  Think of vitamins in the air, nourishment in your recreation.  That is what SNAM means, programming that teaches without any awareness of the learning.

Why does it matter?

I submit that Toronto is a special case.  Since this 40 year experiment began –at one time curated by Elwy Yost, now by Thom Ernst– Toronto has quietly become one of the most important film cities in the world.  Our festival –TIFF—is different from any other. How? Our audience is knowledgeable like no other.

I submit that Elwy & Thom had something to do with it.  I wrote about it awhile ago. We have been watching film as though it were art –as opposed to entertainment for decades, something programs such as Inside the Actors Studio only started to do in the past 20 years or less.  An entire culture has been created by this show.

SNAM is apparently going to end due to cut-backs.  I hope this unfortunate proposal will be stopped.  As I was trying to imply, SNAM is important precisely because it’s not like educational TV. That’s why it’s vital.

Don’t take the fluoride out of our water…!