Toronto International Film Festival
Past recipients of this award include Oscar-winning films, such as Chariots of Fire (1981), Life Is Beautiful (1998), American Beauty (1999), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The King's Speech (2010), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), 12 Years a Slave (2013), The Imitation Game (2014), La La Land (2016), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Green Book (2018), Jojo Rabbit (2019), Nomadland (2020), Belfast (2021) and American Fiction (2023).[10] Ironically, however, Hollywood studios withdrew their submissions from TIFF due to concerns that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their feature releases.[17] 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".[18] In 2009, TIFF's decision to spotlight films from Tel Aviv created a controversy with protesters, saying it was part of an attempt to re-brand Israel[19] in a positive light after the January 2009 Gaza War.[26] 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 (specifically Amazon Video and Netflix) are being screened at Scotiabank Theatre—which has been considered the "primary" venue of the festival.[28] The film screenings were initially declared as "masks optional", a decision that drew criticism for creating a potential superspreader event as the social nature of the festival could increase the risk for COVID-19 transmission.[31] Introduced at the time as a temporary measure due to the pandemic,[32] 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.[33] Films such as American Beauty, Ray, Mr. Nobody, 127 Hours, Black Swan, Disobedience, The Five Obstructions, Singapore Sling, I Am Love and The Fabelmans have premiered at TIFF.[34] 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.[35][36][37] In 2007, the Festival Group began construction on TIFF Lightbox, a new facility at the corner of King and John Streets in downtown Toronto, on land donated by Ivan Reitman and family.The facility, designed by local firm KPMB Architects, provides extensive year-round galleries, cinemas, archives and activities for cinephiles.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.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.[43] 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.
King Street West2016 Toronto International Film FestivalTorontoOntarioPeople's Choice Awardfilm festivalsTIFF Lightboxdowntown TorontoTIFF People's Choice Awardawards seasonAcademy AwardsChariots of FireLife Is BeautifulAmerican BeautyCrouching Tiger, Hidden DragonSlumdog MillionaireThe King's SpeechSilver Linings Playbook12 Years a SlaveThe Imitation GameLa La LandThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriGreen BookJojo RabbitNomadlandBelfastAmerican Fiction2024 Toronto International Film FestivalCameron BaileyBill MarshallDusty CohlHenk Van der KolkPiers HandlingNoah CowanYorkvilleToronto Entertainment DistrictScotiabank Theatre TorontoTIFF CinemathequeWindsor Arms HotelHarbour Castle HotelWayne ClarksonCanadian Film Awardsshort filmsManulife CentreJiminy Glick in LalawoodMartin ShortRose McGowanFifty Dead Men WalkingTel Avivre-brandGaza Warthe 2016 festivalCineplex EntertainmentAmazon VideoNetflixCOVID-19 pandemicShift72superspreaderCOVID-19Mr. Nobody127 HoursBlack SwanDisobedienceThe Five ObstructionsSingapore SlingI Am LoveThe FabelmansJamie FoxxRay CharlesAcademy Award for Best ActorPreciousAcademy Award for Best ActressJennifer LawrenceIvan ReitmanBell CanadaGovernment of OntarioGovernment of CanadaKPMB ArchitectsBruce McDonaldTriggerTim BurtonMuseum of Modern ArtStanley KubrickFilm Reference LibraryInternational Federation of Film Archives (FIAF)Canada's Top TenTop 10 Canadian Films of All TimeGrolschCadillacAcademy AwardBest Canadian FilmBest Canadian First Feature FilmBest Canadian Short FilmBest International Short FilmFIPRESCIInternational Critics' PrizesNETPAC PrizePlatform Prizehonorable mentionsTIFF Tribute Awardsdocumentarychildren's filmstelevision episodesnarrativefeature filmred carpet2014 festivalart-housegenre filmsPeter KuplowskyJia ZhangkePlatformthe 2013 festivalworld premieresrestoredTIFF Next Waveexperimental filmsart filmsMichael SnowWavelengthVarietyCannesToronto StarThe Globe and MailThe New York TimesThe Times of India