TheToronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized astiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attendedfilm festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organization behind the film festival is also a permanent destination for film culture operating out of theTIFF Lightbox cultural centre, located indowntown Toronto.
The Toronto International Film Festival was first launched as theToronto Festival of Festivals, collecting the best films from other film festivals around the world and showing them to eager audiences in Toronto. Founded byBill Marshall,Dusty Cohl, andHenk Van der Kolk,[3] 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 had been the festival's director and CEO since 1994, whileNoah Cowan became co-director of TIFF in 2004. In late 2007, Cowan became the artistic director ofTIFF Lightbox, while longtime programmerCameron Bailey succeeded as co-director. As of 2013, Bailey was the artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as TIFF Lightbox's year round programming.[4]
Lightbox is the cultural centrepiece and home to TIFF programming outside festival dates
TIFF was once centred on theYorkville neighbourhood, but theToronto Entertainment District later gained a greater level of prominence.[5][6] 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 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 theScotiabank Theatre Toronto, 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.[7] 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.
In May 2024, TIFF announced that it will launch a full film market in 2026.[8]
The festival was founded in 1976 at theWindsor Arms Hotel byBill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk andDusty Cohl.[9] Beginning as a collection of the best-regarded films from film festivals around the world, it had an inaugural attendance of 35,000.[10] Ironically, however, Hollywood studios withdrew their submissions from TIFF due to concerns that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their feature releases.[11]
In 1978, the festival first began billing itself as "the Toronto International Film Festival" as a supplementary name, although it retained Festival of Festivals as its primary branding.[12] At the same time it moved from theHarbour Castle Hotel to the Plaza II, andWayne Clarkson replaced Marshall as the festival director. The number of galas increased from one to two per night and theCanadian Film Awards were incorporated into the festival.[13]
The Festival of Festivals name was dropped in 1994, with the event becoming known exclusively as the Toronto International Film Festival at that time.[14] 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.[15]
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 Canadianshort films.
As of 2015, 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 2007, it was announced that the organization generates an estimated annual impact of $67 million CAD.[16] By 2011, that benefit had grown to $170 million CAD.[17]
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.[18]
In 2017, TIFF reduced the number of films screened compared tothe 2016 festival[19] with 255 feature-length films in2017, and also eliminated two venues that had been used in prior years.[20]
In 2019, it was reported that due to a request from its owner,Cineplex Entertainment, no TIFF films distributed by subscription video-on-demand services (specificallyAmazon Video andNetflix) are being screened at Scotiabank Theatre—which has been considered the "primary" venue of the festival.[21]
The 2020 edition was both in-person and virtual due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, with the virtual platform provided byShift72.[22] The film screenings were initially declared as "masks optional", a decision that drew criticism for creating a potentialsuperspreader event as the social nature of the festival could increase the risk forCOVID-19 transmission.[23] The festival reversed the decision within 24 hours, citing a surge of new cases in Ontario, and made masks mandatory at the physical screenings.
The 2020 festival also saw the introduction of Industry Selects, anad hoc film market for films seeking commercial distribution. Due to the pandemic, which prevented members of the North American film industry from travelling to international film festivals where many of the Industry Selects films were screened, they were available on the festival's industry platform, but not on the commercial platform for the general public.[24] Introduced at the time as a temporary measure due to the pandemic,[25] it was converted into a permanent part of the TIFF program in 2022, and became the nucleus of the festival's plans to launch a full film market in 2026.[26]
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.[28][29][30]
In 2007, the Festival Group began construction onTIFF Lightbox, a new facility at the corner of King and John Streets in downtown Toronto, on land donated byIvan Reitman and family. The $181 million facility was sponsored byBell Canada, with additional support from theGovernment of Ontario andGovernment of Canada.
In 2010, the organization opened its new headquarters at TIFF Lightbox. The facility, designed by local firmKPMB Architects, provides extensive year-round galleries, cinemas, archives and activities for cinephiles.[31] 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.[32] Cooperatively with Daniels Corporation, there is a 46-storey condominium atop, called the Festival Tower.
The first film screening wasBruce McDonald'sTrigger. The first exhibition was a retrospective onTim Burton, organized by theMuseum of Modern Art (New York City). Subsequent exhibitions include Fellini: Spectacular Obsessions, Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess, Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style, andStanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, all of which were organized by TIFF, as well as one calledEssential Cinema, featuring posters, images and props from TIFF'sThe Essential 100 list of films.[33][34]
TheFilm 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 Lightbox. An affiliate member of theInternational 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.[35]
Annually, TIFF releases aCanada'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.[36] 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.[36] 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.[37]
Since 1984, every decade TIFF has also produced aTop 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.
The festival's major prize, theTIFF 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.[38] Past sponsors of the award have includedCadillac andGrolsch.[39][40] The winners of this award have often later earnedAcademy Award nominations.[41] People's Choice Awards are also presented forDocumentary andMidnight Madness films. Each of the People's Choice Awards names first and second runners-up in addition to the winners.
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 thePlatform Prize.
For all of the juried awards,honorable mentions may also be given, although the juries are expected to select one overall winner.
In 2019, the festival introduced theTIFF Tribute Awards, 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.[43]
In May 2025, the festival announced that a new award would be introduced at the festival in September for international feature-length films.[44]
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 episodes), 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:[19]
Centrepiece (formerly Contemporary World Cinema):narrative feature films by established directors
Discovery: films that are typically the director's first or secondfeature film
Gala Presentations: high-profile feature films, often featuring international movie stars, presented with ared carpet
In Conversation With...: interviews of a director or other figure from the film industry, generally accompanied by brief excerpts from films (up until the2014 festival, this section was called "Mavericks")
Masters: feature films by "the world's most influentialart-house 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,[45] now programmed byPeter Kuplowsky
Platform: a competitive section launched in 2015, named forJia Zhangke's filmPlatform, of films from around the world that do not have distribution in North America.[46][47] Every year the Platform section has a high-profile international jury which confers the C$25,000Platform 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 ofshort films (usually six to ten short films included at each screening) both Canadian and international; up untilthe 2013 festival only Canadian short films were screened and the section was called Short Cuts Canada, in2014 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 notworld 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 newlyrestored
TIFF Docs (formerly called Reel to Reel):documentary films
TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave (formerly called Sprockets): films for children and teenagers; however, these are not dedicated programs in their own right, but designations added to films of youth interest that are already in one of the other programs. TIFF also organizes smaller separate TIFF Kids andTIFF Next Wave festivals in the spring of the year.[48]
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).
According to theBBC, TIFF is one of the largest and most prestigious events of its kind in the world.[49] In 1998,Variety acknowledged that TIFF "is second only toCannes in terms of high-profile pics, stars, and market activity". In 2007,Time noted that TIFF had "grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period".[50]
In 2008,Rose McGowan caused controversy at a TIFF press conference for her filmFifty Dead Men Walking, when she noted that "I imagine, had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100% have been in the IRA".[54]
In 2009, TIFF's decision to spotlight films fromTel Aviv created a controversy with protesters, saying it was part of an attempt tore-brand Israel[55] in a positive light after the January 2009Gaza War.[56][57][58][59]
In August 2025 (a month before the festival), TIFF withdrew the invitation to screen the Israeli documentaryThe Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, which depicts rescue efforts by retired Major GeneralNoam Tibon during theOctober 7 attacks in southern Israel. TIFF cited a copyright claim, stating that the filmmakers did not obtain permission to use video footage recorded by Hamas during the attacks and concerns over possible disruptions as the reason for the decision.[60][61] Critics noted that Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the Government of Canada,[62] and argued that the decision effectively required Israeli filmmakers to seek approval from a group officially recognized as such in order to depict these events,[63] while TIFF noted that it needs to protect itself from any potential copyright issues, and requires all films exhibited at the festival to either show copyright clearances or provide an indemnity to protect the festival from legal liability in the event that a copyright lawsuit is launched over the film's screening.[64]
On August 14, 2025, following public criticism and discussions with the filmmakers, TIFF reversed its decision and reinstated the documentary in the festival's lineup.[65][66][67][68]
^Victoria Ahearn (February 23, 2017)."TIFF downscales for 2017".Toronto Star. The Canadian Press.Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2017.
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