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Toronto’s 2026 film-festival season is getting a new kind of gathering place.
Twenty35 Agency will debut CineDine, an invitation-only supper club built around private dinners, cocktail receptions and cast celebrations from Sept. 14-17 at PUNCH inside Le Germain Hôtel Toronto Mercer.
Rather than competing with the traditional red carpet or late-night festival party, CineDine is positioning itself around a more intimate idea: put filmmakers, actors, producers, industry leaders and invited guests around the same table.
The inaugural program will connect film celebrations with curated food and hospitality experiences, with talent expected across the run including Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Sting, Antonio Banderas, Forest Whitaker, Gael García Bernal, Trudie Styler, Mickey Sumner, Cole Sprouse, Esmeralda Pimentel and Jorge Salinas.
“Film festivals are filled with premieres, red carpets and parties, but there are fewer places where people can actually sit down together and celebrate,” said David Manning of Twenty35 Agency. “CineDine offers a sophisticated alternative to the traditional festival party that is designed around a simple idea: bring great films, great talent and great hospitality together around the same table.”
A Supper Club Built Around Film
CineDine’s first Toronto program will center on four distinct private celebrations connected to films and entertainment talent in the city.
Bunker will be marked with a pre-reception cocktail gathering, with Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger expected to attend.
Hombre al Agua will take a more intimate approach with a 75-person dinner expected to include Gael García Bernal, Esmeralda Pimentel and Jorge Salinas, among others.
The Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards Dinner will bring another format to the program through an exclusive 60-person gathering recognizing members of the entertainment community. Cole Sprouse is among the expected participants, with additional honorees and guests to be announced.
CineDine will also celebrate Up Against It with a larger 150-person cocktail gathering expected to welcome Trudie Styler, Sting, Antonio Banderas, Forest Whitaker and Mickey Sumner.
That variety gives the new platform room to move between intimate dinners and larger receptions while keeping film and conversation at the center.
Hospitality Becomes Part of the Programming
CineDine is being designed as more than a venue for post-screening gatherings.
Hospitality is part of the concept itself.
Redbreast Irish Whiskey, an official partner of the Toronto International Film Festival, will lead the cocktail experience throughout CineDine with a curated program featuring several of its expressions.
Toronto’s Caviar & Bar Co. will provide caviar and macaron service for select VIP experiences, while Chateau des Charmes joins as the exclusive wine partner, featuring Superior Chardonnay and Superior Cabernet Franc.
Isola Serena, a private villa and estate in Tuscany’s Chianti region, will introduce guests to estate-produced extra virgin olive oil through what the program describes as a “Taste of Tuscany.”
Together, those elements are intended to make the meal, drink and setting part of the event rather than background support for it.
PUNCH Gives CineDine an Intimate Home
The supper club will take over PUNCH at Le Germain Hôtel Toronto Mercer, located at 30 Mercer Street in Toronto’s entertainment district.
Led by Executive Chef Mandar Kulkarni, PUNCH draws on Indian influences, British heritage and contemporary Toronto through a shareable menu and cocktail program.
Its 91-seat dining room provides the kind of scale CineDine appears to be aiming for: polished enough for high-profile talent and partners, but still small enough to preserve the sense of an actual gathering.
That setting is central to Twenty35 Agency’s positioning of CineDine as an alternative to larger festival-party environments.
The goal is not simply to put people in the same room.
It is to create enough intimacy for them to sit, talk and stay awhile.
A New Addition to Twenty35 Agency’s Festival Strategy
For Twenty35 Agency, CineDine expands a portfolio already built around film-festival hospitality, branded experiences and cultural programming.
The agency also operates Cinema Center, its established entertainment and media hospitality platform during major festival periods.
CineDine takes a different approach.
Where a traditional hospitality hub may revolve around interviews, press activity, cocktails and receptions, CineDine is built around the table.
That distinction gives the concept a clear identity from its first year.
Film remains the reason everyone is in Toronto.
The supper club simply creates another way for the people behind those films to gather around it.
CineDine runs Sept. 14-17 at PUNCH inside Le Germain Hôtel Toronto Mercer.
Events are private and by invitation only.
Editorial Note
CineDine operates independently in Toronto in support of participating filmmakers and is not affiliated with, sanctioned by, or formally associated with the Toronto International Film Festival.
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Hashtag: #CinemaDine
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The post CineDine Brings Film, Food and A-List Talent to Toronto appeared first on The Hype Magazine.
