The Toronto International Film Festival began in October 1976 as the Toronto Festival of Festivals, founded by Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk, and Dusty Cohl. It took its present name in 1994, when Piers Handling became director. The Canadian Encyclopedia calls it the largest film festival in North America and, internationally, second only to Cannes. Its year-round home, the TIFF Lightbox at 350 King Street West, opened in 2010.
How a festival of festivals began
The Canadian Encyclopedia names Marshall and Van der Kolk, both film producers, and the lawyer Dusty Cohl as the founders. Wikipedia, citing the Toronto Star, places the first edition at the Windsor Arms Hotel and gives the dates as October 18 to 24, 1976. The Canadian Encyclopedia’s article on the festival, read as a search summary, adds that the organizers planned to open with Bound for Glory, but United Artists withdrew it, and the opening film became Cousin, Cousine. Barbara Kopple’s documentary Harlan County, U.S.A. had an enthusiastic premiere and later won an Academy Award.
The size of the first festival is reported differently. Wikipedia gives 31,500 filmgoers and 155 films from 30 countries in one section, citing Variety of April 13, 1977, and 35,000 filmgoers in its history section, citing TIFF’s own fact sheet of 2010. A separate Wikipedia page on the 1976 edition gives 127 films. These figures cannot be reconciled from what is public, and they are presented here as unresolved.
Growth under new directors, 1978 to 1993
After two years under Marshall, Wayne Clarkson of the Canadian Film Institute was hired to run the event, and the Encyclopedia says it grew in importance under him. Wikipedia dates his arrival to 1978 and says the festival began using “Toronto International Film Festival” as a supplementary name in that year, while keeping Festival of Festivals as its main title. In 1984 the festival launched Perspective Canada, a program devoted to Canadian filmmakers. When the University Theatre closed in 1986, the festival moved downtown to the Entertainment District, according to the Toronto Star as cited by Wikipedia. Helga Stephenson and Piers Handling led the festival through the rest of the 1980s, per the Encyclopedia.
The 1994 renaming and the 2009 confusion
The Canadian Encyclopedia states that the festival was renamed the Toronto International Film Festival in 1994 and that it also took over the operation of the Ontario Film Institute. The year 2009 sometimes appears in lists of name changes. Wikipedia, citing an archived TIFF history page, explains that 2009 is when the umbrella organization, called the Toronto International Film Festival Group from 1994, shortened its own name to TIFF. The festival and its parent body therefore changed names in different years.
| Year | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Festival of Festivals founded | Canadian Encyclopedia |
| 1978 | Wayne Clarkson takes over; supplementary name used | Wikipedia, citing the Globe and Mail and Variety |
| 1984 | Perspective Canada launched | Canadian Encyclopedia |
| 1994 | Festival renamed; Piers Handling named director | Canadian Encyclopedia, Wikipedia |
| 2009 | Parent organization renamed TIFF | Wikipedia, citing an archived TIFF page |
| 2010 | TIFF Lightbox opens | Canadian Encyclopedia |
| 2012 | Cameron Bailey named artistic director | Wikipedia, citing the National Post |
| 2020 | Hybrid in-person and online edition | Wikipedia, citing trade press |
The People’s Choice Award
The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that the festival is non-competitive overall, but gives out the People’s Choice Award and several prizes for Canadian films and filmmakers. The award goes to the film that audiences rate highest. Sources differ on when it began: one entertainment-news report says 1978, and the earliest winner listed on the Wikipedia page is Chariots of Fire, in 1981. No official TIFF page read for this article settles the question, so no start year is given here.
The Lightbox on King Street
The Encyclopedia says the festival’s new five-storey headquarters opened in downtown Toronto in 2010. A local history blog gives the opening as September 12, 2010, in the festival’s 35th year, at 350 King Street West, and says the land was donated by Ivan Reitman and his family, with the corner named Reitman Square. The building was known as TIFF Bell Lightbox for sponsorship reasons until 2023, according to Wikipedia. The Encyclopedia says the organization also operates Cinematheque Ontario and the Film Reference Library. The Royal Alexandra Theatre stands a short distance away on the same street.
Leadership since 2012
Wikipedia reports that Cameron Bailey was named artistic director on March 14, 2012, and that in 2021, after Joana Vicente left for the Sundance Institute, he became sole chief executive. Vicente had become executive director and co-head in 2018, after Handling, who had led the festival since 1994. These appointments come from news reports cited by a secondary source and should be checked against TIFF’s own pages.
Frequently asked questions
When was the Toronto International Film Festival founded?
It was founded in 1976 as the Toronto Festival of Festivals, with its first edition in October of that year.
When did it become TIFF?
The festival adopted the name Toronto International Film Festival in 1994. The parent organization became TIFF in 2009.
Who founded the festival?
Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk, and Dusty Cohl, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Where is the festival based?
Its year-round headquarters, the TIFF Lightbox, is at 350 King Street West and opened in 2010. Screening venues and dates for any given year are listed on TIFF’s own website.
Related reading
- The Royal Alexandra Theatre on King Street
- Toronto’s museums and cultural institutions
- Massey Hall and the city’s concert tradition
- Caribana and the Toronto Caribbean Carnival
- Toronto culture, sports and language
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Film Festivals” and “Toronto International Film Festival” (read as a search summary)
- Wikipedia, “Toronto International Film Festival” and “TIFF Lightbox” (secondary, citing the Toronto Star, Variety, the Globe and Mail, and archived TIFF pages)
- Taylor on History, “Toronto’s Bell Lightbox (TIFF) on King St. West” (local history blog)
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Toronto International Film Festival: History Since 1976. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-international-film-festival-history
MLA: “Toronto International Film Festival: History Since 1976.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-international-film-festival-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Toronto International Film Festival: History Since 1976.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-international-film-festival-history.
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