Canada’s legacy in film is being celebrated this year with the 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) beginning this week. From premieres of some of the most decorated films to the discovery of beloved talent in front of and behind the camera, TIFF has firmly established itself as one of the most influential events in the world of cinema.
A lot has evolved over five decades. The scope of the festival is different, and it has forever impacted the city of Toronto, making it a go-to destination for filmmakers from around the world.
But as many moments of glitz and glam that we’ve seen, there’s also been scandal, emotional moments and shocking events at TIFF.
TORONTO, ONTARIO – SEPTEMBER 02: A general view of the atmosphere is seen as the city prepares for the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF 50, on September 02, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Mathew Tsang/Getty Images)
1976 — The First
We have to start at the beginning of TIFF’s history in 1976, called the Festival of Festivals at the time, co-created by Dusty Cohl, William Marshall and Henk Van der Kolk. It included 152 movies, but it was far from the celebrity-filled experience we have today. High profile film critics and industry big wigs weren’t present, and the concept of a significant festival in Canada seemed incredibly unlikely.
But it did become a stomping ground for more innovative and experimental films, and projects that couldn’t break into notable festivals like Cannes and Venice.
Indian actress Persis Khambatta, American film director Ira Wohl, and Canadian actor William Shatner in the 52nd Academy Awards press room, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, in Los Angeles, California, 14th April 1980. Wohl holds his ‘Best Documentary Feature’ award, presented by Khambatta and Shatner for Worl’s film ‘Best Boy’. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
1978 — First Oscar-winning TIFF premiere
While TIFF is now a festival that awards season fans watch to help predict who the big award winners will be, that wasn’t always that case. But it all started in 1978 when Ira Wohl’s film Best Boy premiered at the Toronto festival, going on to win an Oscar in 1979 for best feature documentary.
Just three years later, Hugh Hudson’s Chariots of Fire premiered at TIFF and ended up with four Oscars, including best picture.
1987 — André the Giant’s custom ‘Princess Bride’ chair
Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride is one of the most notable film premieres in the Toronto festival’s history, and organizers went to interesting lengths to make sure its stars were comfortable. In this case, that resulted in a custom chair being made for André the Giant for the premiere.
1991 — Trading TIFF for the Blue Jays
Terry Gilliam’s film The Fisher King, starring Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams, was certainly an exciting addition to TIFF, but Gilliam had a different priority. The night of the Toronto screening, Gilliam chose to go to a Blue Jays baseball game — they were first in the American League East that season.
TORONTO – SEPTEMBER 11: (L-R) Directors Claude Lelouch, Amos Gitai, Danis Tanovic and Mira Nair attend the screening of the film “11’09″01” at the 27th Annual Toronto International Film Festival held at Roy Thomson Hall on September 11, 2002 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Donald Weber/Getty Images)
2001 — 9/11
TIFF was in full swing when the tragedy of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York happened. While several stars ended up staying in Toronto longer than expected, it also resulted in the cancellation of almost every screening and event. Ultimately it was decided that the festival would carry on for its final four days. One of the gala premieres that day was Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, which had a screening the next day.
“It was an incredible moment of the community coming together in collective shock,” former TIFF director Piers Handling told IndieWire back in 2021. “There was a real sense of people wanting to be together, sharing a communal experience.”
“We did a minute of silence before the screening, which was very moving. Then Mira came up, introduced her team, and we went on with the screening. From there, the festival just sort of continued.”
Sean Penn during 31st Annual Toronto International Film Festival – “All The Kings Men” Press Conference at Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by John Shearer/WireImage)
2006 — Sean Penn lights up press conference
By 2006 laws had been enacted to ban smoking indoors, but Sean Penn didn’t think that applied to him. During the press conference for All The King’s Men, the actor lit a cigarette in the the Sutton Place Hotel, and the hotel was fined $600.
2007 — Colin Farrell’s generosity
While celebrity sightings are a huge part of TIFF, Colin Farrell had a particularly interesting encounter in 2007. While in Toronto for the North American premiere of Cassandra’s Dream, he saw a homeless man named David, someone he remembered meeting a few years ago when Farrell was filming The Home at the End of the World. The actor took David shopping and paid for his housing for a year.
2016 — Broken escalator
If you’ve never seen the escalator at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre, this may not seem like a big deal, but it’s giant and steep, and in 2016 caused some interesting problems for festival attendees, and resulting in quite a frenzy on Twitter (now X) at the time.
2020 — TIFF goes digital
The COVID-19 pandemic rocked the whole world and resulted in TIFF having to transition from an in-person to a digital festival. Filmmakers, actors and journalists signed on to Zoom to talk about their films that were watched by movie lovers in their homes.
Outdoor and screenings with physical distancing considerations were introduced for some films, making it a festival unlike any other.
2022 — Anna Kendrick stuck in an elevator
While Anna Kendrick was set to participate in a series of interviews to promote her film Alice, Darling, her time in Toronto didn’t go as planned after she got stuck in an elevator.
“I got in the wrong elevator at the wrong time,” Kendrick said at People and Entertainment Weekly’s photo and video studio at TIFF in 2022.
“I got out. Some lovely Canadian firefighters had me crawl out the top of the hatch. … Seven of us in an elevator just waiting to be rescued by firefighters. It was so absurd that it would happen on a film press tour that it just seemed so immediately comical.”
2023 — The strikes
When 2023 TIFF started, the SAG-AFTRA strike and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes were both occurring. While many writers and actors didn’t attend, some did, but were limited in what they could speak to about their work. But discussions about job protections and the use of AI were top of mind throughout the whole festival.
TORONTO, CANADA – SEPTEMBER 17: People holding Ukrainian flags and banners attend a demonstration outside TIFF Lightbox after Toronto Film Festival’s announcement on screenings of ‘Russians at War’ at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 17, 2024. (Photo by Mert Alper Dervis /Anadolu via Getty Images)
2024 — ‘Russians at War’ controversy
In 2024, TIFF pulled the film Russians at War from the festival, with organizing citing “significant threats to festival operations and public safety.”
Protesters took to the streets in Toronto to protest the film’s inclusion in the festival, calling it “Russian propaganda.”