Burkinabè-French film distributor Claire Diao has joined the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) programming team as Programme Advisor, Middle East and Africa.
She joins other international filmmakers selected for the programming team including Mariam Zaidi, International Programmer for Short Cuts, and Richard Pierre, Warner Brothers Discovery Curatorial Fellow. “TIFF is welcoming new members to the Festival Programming team ahead of #TIFF50,” the festival said in an X post, announcing the trio’s appointment.
The full programming team now includes festival head Cameron Bailey, as well as Anita Lee, Geoff Macnaughton, Andréa Picard, Giovanna Fulvi, Thom Powers, Christoph Straub, and others.
Diao has been involved in the business of film for more than a decade. She founded the short film programme Quartiers Lointains in 2013 and co-founded the Pan-African film magazine AWOTELE in 2015. She has also been CEO of Sudu Connexion, a Pan-African film distribution company, since 2016. She has also served as a TV host and columnist, working with platforms such as Canal+, France O, and TV5 Monde.
As a programmer, Diao has worked with several film festivals, including Cannes Directors Fortnight from 2019 to 2022 and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival since 2016. She has served as a juror for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and, recently, worked with the Lincoln Center on the L.A. Rebellion: Then and Now series in Spring 2025.
Diao shared the new development on her LinkedIn page, acknowledging the work of past TIFF programmers including Nataleah Hunter-Young and June Givanni. “Thank you Toronto International Film Festival for this opportunity!” she wrote.
Diao’s appointment to TIFF comes with recognition of her contributions to the film industry, including being named a Knight of the Order of Merit for the Arts of Letters and Communication in Burkina Faso.
