The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permanent destination for film culture operating out of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, located in Downtown Toronto. TIFF's mission is "to transform the way people see the world through film". Year-round, the TIFF Bell Lightbox offers screenings, lectures, discussions, festivals, workshops, industry support, and the chance to meet filmmakers from Canada and around the world. TIFF Bell Lightbox is located on the north west corner of King Street and John Street in downtown Toronto. TIFFBellLightbox2

In 2016, 397 films from 83 countries were screened at 28 screens in downtown Toronto venues, welcoming an estimated 480,000 attendees, over 5,000 of whom were industry professionals. TIFF starts the Thursday night after Labour Day (the first Monday in September in Canada) and lasts for eleven days. Founded in 1976, TIFF is now one of the largest and most prestigious events of its kind in the world. In 1998, '' Variety'' acknowledged that TIFF "is second only to

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

in terms of high-profile pics, stars, and market activity". In 2007, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' noted that TIFF had "grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period". This is partially the result of the festival's ability and reputation for generating " Oscar buzz". The festival's People's Choice Award—which is based on audience balloting—has emerged as an indicator of success during

awards season Film awards season is an annual time period between November and February every year, in the United States, where a majority of significant film award events take place. In October ballots are sent out to voters, to collect nominations for the first ...

, especially at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. Past recipients of this award include Oscar-winning films, such as '' Life Is Beautiful'' (1998), '' American Beauty'' (1999), '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000), '' Slumdog Millionaire'' (2008), '' The King's Speech'' (2010), '' 12 Years a Slave'' (2013), '' La La Land'' (2016), '' Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017), '' Green Book'' (2018), '' Jojo Rabbit'' (2019), and ''

Nomadland ''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand a ...

'' (2020). The festival's current executive director is

Background

The Toronto International Film Festival was first launched as the Toronto Festival of Festivals, collecting the best films from other film festivals around the world and showing them to eager audiences in Toronto. Founded by Bill Marshall, Dusty Cohl, and

Henk Van der Kolk Henk Van der Kolk is a Canadian film producer, best known as a cofounder of the Toronto International Film Festival and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Originally from Zwolle, Netherlands, Van der Kolk emigrated to Canada in 1959 ...

, the inaugural event took place from October 18 through 24, 1976. That first year, 35,000 filmgoers watched 127 films from 30 countries presented in ten programmes.

Piers Handling Piers Handling is the former CEO and executive director of the Toronto International Film Festival, and former director of the Canadian Film Institute. Early life Piers was born to Joan Garrod and Douglas Handling, who met during World War II. He ...

has been the festival's director and CEO since 1994, while

Noah Cowan Noah Cowan (born ) was the executive director of SFFILM from March 2014 to May 2019. He oversaw the organization's exhibition, education and filmmaker services. Before joining SFFILM, Cowan was the artistic director of TIFF Bell Lightbox. Early ...

became co-director of TIFF in 2004. In late 2007, Cowan became the artistic director of TIFF Bell Lightbox, while longtime programmer

Cameron Bailey Cameron Bailey is a Canadian film critic and festival programmer, who is the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Biography Born in London, England to parents from Barbados,Yorkville neighbourhood, but the Toronto Entertainment District later gained a greater level of prominence. TIFF is known for the celebrity buzz it brings to the area with international media setting up near its restaurants and stores for photos and interviews with the stars. In 2010, TIFF opened its permanent headquarters, TIFF Bell Lightbox, a year-round home for the appreciation of film in the heart of downtown Toronto, although TIFF films are still screened at a wider variety of venues, including the

Scotiabank Theatre Toronto The Scotiabank Theatre Toronto (formerly Paramount Theatre Toronto) is a major movie theatre at the RioCan Hall in the Entertainment District of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Richmond and John Street owned by Cineplex Entertainment and ...

, rather than exclusively at the Lightbox. TIFF has grown, steadily adding initiatives throughout the years. TIFF Cinematheque (formerly Cinematheque Ontario) and the Film Reference Library (FRL) opened in 1990. The TIFF Kids International Film Festival (formerly Sprockets) launched in 1998. Film Circuit began exhibiting independent and Canadian films in under-serviced cities across Canada in 1994. The festival also organizes the TIFF Film Circuit, a program which partners with local organizations in other Canadian towns and cities to present screenings of films that have previously been shown at TIFF.

History

The festival was founded in 1976 at the Windsor Arms Hotel by Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk and Dusty Cohl. Beginning as a collection of the best-regarded films from film festivals around the world, it had an inaugural attendance of 35,000. Ironically, however, Hollywood studios withdrew their submissions from TIFF due to concerns that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their products. In 1978, the decision was made to replace the name "Festival of Festivals" with "Toronto International Film Festival" as well as a move to a new location for the festival, moving from the Harbour Castle Hotel to the Plaza II, and also a new director, with Wayne Clark replacing Marshall. The number of galas increased from one to two per night and the Canadian Film Awards were incorporated into the festival. From 1994 to 2009, the umbrella organization running TIFF was named "Toronto International Film Festival Group" (TIFFG). In 2009, the umbrella organization TIFFG was renamed to TIFF. In 2001, Perspective Canada, the programme that had focused on Canadian films since 1984, was replaced by two programmes: * Canada First!, a forum for Canadian filmmakers presenting their first feature-length work, featuring eight to 15 films, and * Short Cuts Canada, which includes 30-40 Canadian

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s. Otherwise, Canadian films are now simply included alongside international films in the other film programs rather than being grouped as a dedicated Canadian film stream. In 2004, TIFF was featured as the site of murder mystery in the film '' Jiminy Glick in Lalawood'', a comedy film starring Martin Short. In 2007, it was announced that the organization generates an estimated annual impact of $67 million CAD. By 2011, that benefit had grown to $170 million CAD. In 2008, Rose McGowan caused controversy at a TIFF press conference for her film '' Fifty Dead Men Walking'', when she noted that "I imagine, had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100% have been in the IRA". In 2009, TIFF's decision to spotlight films from

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

created a controversy with protesters, saying it was part of an attempt to re-brand Israel in a positive light after the January 2009 Gaza War. In 2017, TIFF reduced the number of films screened compared to the 2016 festival with 255 feature-length films in 2017 vs about 400 films in 2016, and also eliminated two venues that had been used in prior years. In 2019, it was reported that due to a request from its owner,

Cineplex Entertainment Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian movie theatre and family entertainment centre chain headquartered in Toronto. The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included t ...

, no TIFF films distributed by subscription video-on-demand services (specifically Amazon Video and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

) are being screened at Scotiabank Theatre—which has been considered the "primary" venue of the festival. The 2020 version announced that it would be both in-person and virtual due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, and that film screening would be "masks optional". It was criticized for creating a potential

superspreader A superspreading event (SSEV) is an event in which an infectious disease is spread much more than usual, while an unusually contagious organism infected with a disease is known as a superspreader. In the context of a human-borne illness, a super ...

event as the social nature of the festival could increase the risk for COVID-19 transmission. The festival reversed the decision within 24 hours citing a surge of new cases in Ontario.

Notable film premieres

Films such as '' American Beauty'', ''

Ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gr ...

'', '' Mr. Nobody'', '' 127 Hours'', '' Black Swan'', ''

The Five Obstructions ''The Five Obstructions'' is a 2003 Danish documentary film directed by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth. The film is conceived as a documentary, but incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films produced by the filmmakers. The premise is th ...

'', '' Singapore Sling'', and '' I Am Love'' have premiered at TIFF. Jamie Foxx's portrayal of

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

ultimately won him the Academy Award for Best Actor while '' Slumdog Millionaire'' went on to win eight Oscars at the 2009 Academy Awards. '' Precious'', which won the 2009 TIFF People's Choice Award, went on to win two Oscars at the 82nd Academy Awards. '' The King's Speech'', the winner of the 2010 TIFF People's Choice Award, won four Oscars at the 83rd Academy Awards, while '' Silver Linings Playbook'', the winner of the 2012 TIFF People's Choice Award, went on to win the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

for Jennifer Lawrence. In 2019, the festival opened with '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', the first time the festival ever opened with a Canadian documentary film. Many Hollywood studios premiere their films in Toronto due to TIFF's easy-going non-competitive nature, relatively inexpensive costs (when compared to European festivals), eager film-fluent audiences and convenient timing.

TIFF Bell Lightbox

In 2007, the Festival Group began construction on TIFF Bell Lightbox, a new facility at the corner of King and John Streets in downtown Toronto, on land donated by Ivan Reitman and family. The $181 million facility is named for founding sponsor

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in ...

, with additional support from the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

and

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...

. In 2010, the organization opened its new headquarters at TIFF Bell Lightbox. The facility, designed by local firm KPMB Architects, provides extensive year-round galleries, cinemas, archives and activities for cinephiles. The five-storey facility contains five cinemas, two gallery spaces, film archives and an extensive reference library, study spaces, film lab facility, and a research centre. There is also a gift shop, two restaurants, a lounge, a cafe, and a three-storey atrium. Cooperatively with Daniels Corporation, there is a 46-storey condominium atop, called the Festival Tower. The first film screening was Bruce McDonald's '' Trigger''. The first exhibition was a retrospective on Tim Burton, organized by the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

(New York City). Subsequent exhibitions include Fellini: Spectacular Obsessions, Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess, Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style, and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

: The Exhibition, all of which were organized by TIFF, as well as one called ''Essential Cinema'', featuring posters, images and props from TIFF's ''The Essential 100'' list of films. The Film Reference Library (FRL) is a large Canadian film research collection. The library is a free resource for film lovers, filmmakers, students, scholars, and journalists, and is located on the fourth floor of the TIFF Bell Lightbox. An affiliate member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the FRL promotes Canadian and global film scholarship by collecting, preserving, and providing access to a comprehensive collection of film prints, and film-related reference resources (including books, periodicals, scripts, research files, movies, press kits, and about 80 special collections. In 2016, the festival received a donation of 1,400 film prints, and launched a campaign to raise money for the preservation and storage of the films.

Canada's Top Ten

Each year, TIFF releases a Canada's Top Ten list of the films selected by a poll of festival programmers across Canada as the ten best Canadian feature and short films of the year, regardless of whether or not they were screened at TIFF."TIFF reveals Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival line-up"
. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', December 8, 2015. The films selected are announced in December each year. Previously, the winning films were screened at a smaller follow-up "Canada's Top Ten" festival at the Lightbox the following January, with a People's Choice Award then presented for that minifestival. In 2018, TIFF announced a change, under which instead of a dedicated festival, each Top Ten film will receive its own standalone theatrical run at the Lightbox throughout the year. Since 1984, every decade TIFF has also produced a Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time list. This list is produced from a wider poll of film industry professionals and academics throughout Canada, separately from the annual top-ten list.

Awards

The festival's major prize, the People's Choice Award, is given to a feature-length film. It is not a juried prize, but is given to the film with the highest ratings as voted by the TIFF-going populace. It is presently referred to as the " Grolsch People's Choice Award"; past sponsors of the award have included Cadillac. The winners of this award have often later earned

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations. People's Choice Awards are also presented for Documentary and Midnight Madness films. Each of the People's Choice Awards names first and second runners-up in addition to the winners. However, TIFF does present juried awards in some other categories. The festival presents three major awards for Canadian films: Best Canadian Film, Best Canadian First Feature Film, and Best Canadian Short Film, as well as awards for Best International Short Film, two

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

-sponsored International Critics' Prizes for the Special Presentation and Discovery programs, and a NETPAC Prize for the best film from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

having its world premiere at the festival. In 2015, the festival introduced Platform, a juried programme that champions director's cinema from around the world; one film from the stream is selected as the winner of the Platform Prize. For all of the juried awards,

honorable mention An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awa ...

s may also be given, although the juries are expected to select one overall winner. For 2019, TIFF announced two new awards, the TIFF Impact Award to honour production companies for work that has had an impact on the film industry, and the Mary Pickford Award to honour an emerging female filmmaker. In the same year the festival introduced the

TIFF Tribute Awards The TIFF Tribute Awards are an annual award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to honour distinguished achievements in filmmaking. Unlike the festival's regular awards, which are presented based on audience or jury voting during ...

, a gala ceremony at which distinguished actors and filmmakers are honoured for their lifetime career achievements; unlike most award categories, the Tribute Award honorees are named in advance of the festival.

Sections

The hundreds of films screened at the annual festival are divided into sections (referred to by TIFF as "Programmes") based on genre (e.g. documentary, children's films), format (e.g. short films,

television episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meanin ...

s), the status of filmmaker (e.g. "masters", first-time directors), and so forth. Up until the early 2010s there were sections reserved for Canadian films, but beginning in 2015 all Canadian films are integrated in sections with films from outside Canada. Currently the festival's 14 sections are as follows: * Contemporary World Cinema:

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional ( memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc ...

feature films by established directors * Discovery: films that are typically the director's first or second

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

* Gala Presentations: high-profile feature films, often featuring international movie stars, presented with a red carpet * In Conversation With...: interviews of a director or other figure from the film industry, generally accompanied by brief excerpts from films (up until the 2014 festival, this section was called "Mavericks") * Masters: feature films by "the world's most influential

art-house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

filmmakers" * Midnight Madness: genre films (traditionally at TIFF each film in this section has one screening scheduled for 11:59pm and another the following afternoon); the section was launched at TIFF in 1988 and was programmed by Colin Geddes from 1998 to 2016, now programmed by Peter Kuplowsky * Platform: a competitive section launched in 2015, named for Jia Zhangke's film '' Platform'', of films from around the world that do not have distribution in North America. Every year the Platform section has a high-profile international jury which confers the C$25,000 Platform Prize; both documentaries and narrative films are eligible for inclusion in the section. * Primetime: television episodes making either their world premiere or North American premiere projected cinematically; this section was launched in 2015 * Short Cuts: a section of short films (usually six to ten short films included at each screening) both Canadian and international; up until the 2013 festival only Canadian short films were screened and the section was called Short Cuts Canada, in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

a new section called Short Cuts International was added, and then in 2015 they were merged into a section called Short Cuts * Special Presentations: high-profile feature films, usually Canadian premieres if not world premieres * TIFF Cinematheque: unlike the other sections which present new films, the TIFF Cinematheque section has films from all eras of cinema, often classic films that have been newly

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

* TIFF Docs (formerly called Reel to Reel): documentary films * TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave (formerly called Sprockets): films for children and teenagers; however, this is not a dedicated program in its own right, but a designation added to youth-suitable films that are already in one of the other programs. * Wavelengths:

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

s and

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

s, both feature-length and shorts (this section was named for Michael Snow's film ''

Wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tr ...

'') In previous years, sections at TIFF have included Perspectives Canada, Canada First!, City to City ( 2009 to 2016), Future Projections, Vanguard (up to 2016), and Visions (up to 2011).

Media coverage

In 2016, TIFF hosted 1,800 members of the press and print media outlets such as the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

'', ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'', ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Postmedia Place in ...

'' have published a significant amount of festival coverage. Also, the major industry trade magazines '' Variety'', ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' and '' Screen International'' all produce daily editions during TIFF. TIFF reports also appear in weekly news magazines; American, Canadian and international entertainment shows; news services; and a wide range of film and celebrity blogs.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Film festivals in Toronto Film festivals established in 1976 September events 1976 establishments in Ontario Annual events in Toronto FIAF-affiliated institutions