The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is generally considered to be one of the five top film festivals in the world. It begins the Thursday night after Labor Day and lasts for ten days. Between 300-400 films are screened at a dozen or so downtown Toronto venues. The Festival features retrospectives of national cinemas and individual directors and also highlights Canadian cinema. In 2004, Perspective Canada, the programme that had focused on Canadian films since 1984, was replaced by two programmes:
Canada First!, a forum for Canadian filmmakers presenting their first feature-length work, featuring eight to 15 films, and
Short Cuts Canada, which includes 30-40 Canadian short films.
The TIFF Group occasionally polls critics, programmers, and industry professionals, asking them to identify their Top 10 Canadian films. The TIFF Group has conducted three such polls, in 1984, 1993, and 2004.
The TIFF Group also maintains a library of videotapes submitted to the festival and of film materials as part of Cinematheque Ontario (which provides year round screening of classic films).
The Toronto International FilmFestival (TIFF) is widely considered to be one of the top filmfestivals in the world and is the premiere filmfestival in North America which the Oscars race begins from.
The festival is considered a launch pad for many studios to begin "Oscar-buzz" for their films; for example, Taylor Hackford's Ray premiered at the festival and garnered much attention for Jamie Foxx's portrayal of Ray Charles (for which he ultimately won the Academy Award for Best Actor).
Many notable films have had their global or North American premiere at the Toronto International FilmFestival, including Chariots of Fire, The Big Chill, Husbands and Wives, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, Downfall, and Sideways.
A large part of the enjoyment in attending a filmfestival of Toronto's magnitude is the chance to get caught up in stories unfolding against a wide range of international locations.
At the 29th Toronto fest, some of the European locales on view were exotic in their allure, while others were recreations of famous cities during pivotal times in history.
While big-studio boutique films generated their own buzz, a number of lower-flying entries in the TorontoFilmFestival pushed boundaries, possibilities and sometimes credibility.
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