In August 2025, during his tenure as CEO, TIFF made the contentious decision to rescind its invitation to screen the documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, citing legal clearance requirements for footage, including material filmed by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks.[3] However, the film was later reinvited to the festival.[4]
In 2012, Bailey was named artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival.[6]
He participated in the 2015 edition of Canada Reads, where he advocated for Kim Thúy's novel Ru.[7]Ru ultimately won the competition.[8]
In 2018, Bailey was promoted to the newly created position of artistic director and co-head of the Toronto International Film Festival.[9] In 2021, following the resignation of co-head Joana Vicente, Bailey was named the festival's executive director.[10]
On November 30, 2021, Bailey was made the Chief Executive Officer of TIFF after a 25 year career with the festival.[11]
TIFF stated that the filmmakers had not met its "general requirements for inclusion," specifically legal clearance of all footage—including sensitive material recorded and livestreamed by Hamas militants—which the festival said posed legal and security risks.[13] In response, filmmakers accused TIFF of censorship; some critics characterized the decision as politically motivated.[14] Bailey said it was "unequivocally false" the film was being censored. The film was reinvited to the festival as an official selection.[4]
Cameron Bailey (1999). Kay Armatage; Kass Banning; Brenda Longfellow; Janine Marchessault (eds.). A Cinema of Duty: The Films of Jennifer Hodge de Silva. Gendering the Nation: Canadian Women's Cinema. Toronto: University of Toronto. pp.94–108.
Cameron Bailey (1990). "A Cinema of Duty: The Films of Jennifer Hodge de Silva". CineAction. winter (23): 4–12. In this essay he honoured Jennifer Hodge de Silva.
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