Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is a motion-picture festival held each September in Toronto, Canada. It is one of the largest and most highly regarded film festivals in the world. The festival also promotes the development of the Canadian motion-picture industry.
Hundreds of commercial and independent films from around the world are screened during the festival. TIFF programmers select all the films presented at the festival. Unlike other major film festivals, TIFF film screenings are open to the public.
TIFF presents a series of awards for the films it shows. The audiences vote for the People’s Choice Awards for best feature, best documentary feature, and best Midnight Madness film—the festival’s late-night program. A jury of industry professionals decides the winners in the best Canadian feature, best Canadian first feature, and best Canadian short film categories. A jury of international critics presents prizes for the best features in the discovery and special presentations programs. The festival also includes programs that focus on films from a variety of countries and the work of individual directors.
TIFF has become an important tool for the Hollywood film industry to help studios market their films. Many notable films have had their global or North American premiere at the festival.
The festival began in 1976. It started awarding the People’s Choice Awards in 1978. The festival was originally called the Festival of Festivals. It received its present name in 1994. In 2010, TIFF opened TIFF Bell Lightbox, a state-of-the-art complex in downtown Toronto that offers year-round film programming.
