Toronto International Film Festival facts for kids
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King Street West during the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival
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| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Founded | 1976 |
| Awards | People's Choice Award |
| Language | International |
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is one of the biggest and most famous film festivals in the world. It started in 1976 and happens every year in early September. TIFF is not just a festival; it also has a special place called TIFF Lightbox in downtown Toronto. This center shows movies and hosts events all year long.
One of the most important awards at TIFF is the People's Choice Award. This award is special because the audience votes for their favorite film. Many movies that win this award later go on to win Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars!
Some Oscar-winning films that first won the TIFF People's Choice Award include Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The King's Speech (2010), 12 Years a Slave (2013), La La Land (2016), and Nomadland (2020).
TIFF usually begins on the Thursday after Labour Day in Canada. It lasts for eleven days. The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival took place from September 5 to September 15, 2024. As of 2022, Cameron Bailey is the CEO of the festival.
Contents
What is TIFF?
The Toronto International Film Festival first started as the "Toronto Festival of Festivals." Its goal was to bring the best movies from other film festivals around the world to Toronto. It was founded by Bill Marshall, Dusty Cohl, and Henk Van der Kolk.
The very first festival was held from October 18 to 24, 1976. About 35,000 people came to watch 127 films from 30 different countries. Over the years, TIFF has grown a lot. It used to be mainly in the Yorkville area. Now, it is a big part of the Toronto Entertainment District.
TIFF is famous for bringing many celebrities to Toronto. International media set up near restaurants and shops to interview the stars. In 2010, TIFF opened its main building, TIFF Lightbox. This is a year-round home for movies in downtown Toronto. Even though Lightbox is the main hub, films are still shown at other cinemas like the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto.
TIFF has also added many other programs over time.
- TIFF Cinematheque (which shows classic films) and the Film Reference Library opened in 1990.
- The TIFF Kids International Film Festival started in 1998.
- Film Circuit began in 1994. It shows independent and Canadian films in smaller cities across Canada.
In May 2024, TIFF announced plans to launch a full film market in 2026. This market will help filmmakers sell their movies to distributors.
TIFF's Journey Through Time
The festival was founded in 1976 at the Windsor Arms Hotel. It started by showing top films from other festivals. In its first year, 35,000 people attended.
In 1978, the festival began to use the name "Toronto International Film Festival." It also moved to a new location. The number of gala events, which are special screenings, increased. The Canadian Film Awards also became part of the festival.
The name "Festival of Festivals" was officially dropped in 1994. From then on, it was known only as the Toronto International Film Festival. The organization that runs TIFF was also renamed simply to TIFF in 2009.
In 2001, TIFF changed how it showed Canadian films. It created two new programs:
- Canada First!: This program showed first feature films by Canadian filmmakers.
- Short Cuts Canada: This program featured Canadian short films.
As of 2015, Canadian films are now shown alongside international films in all the different festival programs.
TIFF has grown a lot over the years. In 2016, almost 400 films from 83 countries were shown. About 480,000 people attended the festival that year. In 2017, TIFF showed fewer films, with 255 feature-length movies.
The 2020 festival was special because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held both in person and online. This allowed people to watch films from home. The festival also started "Industry Selects" in 2020. This was a way for films to find distributors during the pandemic. It became a permanent part of TIFF's plans to launch a full film market.
Famous Movies at TIFF
Many famous movies have had their first screenings at TIFF. These include American Beauty, Ray, Black Swan, and The Fabelmans.
- Jamie Foxx won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Ray.
- Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars after its premiere at TIFF.
- Precious won the TIFF People's Choice Award in 2009 and later won two Oscars.
- The King's Speech won the People's Choice Award in 2010 and four Oscars.
- Silver Linings Playbook won the People's Choice Award in 2012. Jennifer Lawrence won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in it.
Many Hollywood studios choose to premiere their films at TIFF. This is because the festival is not a competition, it costs less than European festivals, and audiences in Toronto love movies.
TIFF Lightbox: A Home for Film
In 2007, TIFF began building TIFF Lightbox. This new building is located in downtown Toronto. It was supported by Bell Canada and the Canadian government.
TIFF Lightbox opened in 2010. It is a five-story building with many features for movie lovers. It has five cinemas, two art galleries, film archives, and a large library. There are also study spaces, a film lab, and a research center. You can find a gift shop, restaurants, and a cafe there too.
The first movie shown at Lightbox was Trigger. The first art exhibition was about the famous director Tim Burton. Other exhibitions have featured topics like James Bond and Stanley Kubrick.
The Film Reference Library (FRL) is inside TIFF Lightbox. It is a huge collection of Canadian film research materials. The library is free to use for anyone interested in movies. It has books, magazines, scripts, and about 80 special collections. The FRL helps people learn about Canadian and world cinema.
In 2016, the festival received a gift of 1,400 film prints. They started a campaign to raise money to keep these films safe.
Canada's Top Ten Films
Every year, TIFF creates a list called Canada's Top Ten. This list names the ten best Canadian feature films and short films of the year. Film experts from across Canada vote for these films. The list is announced in December.
The winning films used to be shown at a smaller festival in January. Now, each Top Ten film gets its own special screenings at the Lightbox throughout the year.
Every ten years, TIFF also creates a list of the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time. This list is made by a larger group of film professionals and teachers from all over Canada.
Awards at TIFF
The main award at TIFF is the People's Choice Award. This award goes to a feature-length film. It is not chosen by a jury. Instead, the audience members vote for their favorite film. The winners of this award often get nominated for Academy Awards.
There are also People's Choice Awards for Documentary films and Midnight Madness films. For all People's Choice Awards, there are also first and second runners-up.
TIFF also gives out awards chosen by juries in other categories.
- There are three main awards for Canadian films: Best Canadian Film, Best Canadian First Feature Film, and Best Canadian Short Film.
- There is also an award for Best International Short Film.
- Two FIPRESCI-sponsored International Critics' Prizes are given for films in the Special Presentation and Discovery programs.
- The NETPAC Prize is for the best film from Asia that has its world premiere at the festival.
In 2015, TIFF started a new program called Platform. This program highlights films from directors around the world. One film from this section wins the Platform Prize.
In 2019, TIFF introduced the TIFF Tribute Awards. These are special awards given to famous actors and filmmakers for their amazing work over their careers. These honorees are announced before the festival begins.
In May 2025, TIFF announced a new award for international feature films. This award will be given out in September.
Festival Film Sections
The many films shown at TIFF are organized into different sections. These sections are called "Programmes." Films are grouped by their type (like documentary or children's films), their length (short films), or the experience of the filmmaker. Before 2015, there were special sections just for Canadian films. Now, Canadian films are shown alongside films from other countries.
Here are some of the 14 sections at TIFF:
- Centrepiece: These are feature films by well-known directors.
- Discovery: This section shows films that are usually a director's first or second movie.
- Gala Presentations: These are important feature films, often with international movie stars. They usually have a red carpet event.
- In Conversation With...: These are interviews with directors or other film industry figures. They often include clips from movies.
- Masters: This section features films by "the world's most important art-house filmmakers."
- Midnight Madness: These are genre films, often scary or exciting. They traditionally have one screening at 11:59 PM.
- Platform: This is a competition section for films from around the world that do not yet have distribution in North America. A jury chooses the winner of the C$25,000 Platform Prize.
- Primetime: This section shows television episodes that are having their first screening in the world or in North America.
- Short Cuts: This section includes both Canadian and international short films.
- Special Presentations: These are important feature films, often having their first screening in Canada or the world.
- TIFF Cinematheque: Unlike other sections that show new films, this section shows classic films from all eras of cinema. Many of these films have been newly restored.
- TIFF Docs: This section is dedicated to documentary films.
- TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave: These are films for children and teenagers. TIFF also holds separate TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave festivals in the spring.
- Wavelengths: This section shows experimental films and art films, both long and short.
TIFF's Global Impact
The BBC has called TIFF one of the largest and most important film events in the world. In 1998, Variety magazine said that TIFF was "second only to Cannes" for its famous movies, stars, and business activity. In 2007, Time magazine noted that TIFF had become "the most influential film festival, period."
In 2016, TIFF welcomed 1,800 members of the press. Many newspapers and magazines, like The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter, cover the festival. News about TIFF also appears in weekly news magazines, entertainment shows, and many film blogs.
Images for kids
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King Street West pedestrianized for the opening of the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival
See also
In Spanish: Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto para niños
