From Wikipedia - Reading time: 6 min
![]() Festival poster | |
| Opening film | Cousin Cousine[1] |
|---|---|
| Closing film | Queen of the Gypsies[2] |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Hosted by | Toronto International Film Festival Group |
| No. of films | 127 feature films |
| Festival date | October 18, 1976–October 24, 1976[2] |
| Language | English |
| Website | tiff |
The 1st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place at Windsor Arms Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada between October 18 and October 24, 1976.[2] Initially its name was Festival of Festivals, which remained until 1994 after which it became the Toronto International Film Festival.[3][4]
It showcased 127 feature films from 30 different countries with the audience of 35,000. It featured some of the best films from film festivals around the world.[5][6][7][8] Most of the Hollywood studios later withdrew their submissions citing reason that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their films.[9]
Cousin Cousine, a French film directed by Jean-Charles Tacchella was selected as the opening film and screened at Ontario Place Cinesphere[1][10][11][12] and Queen of the Gypsies was the closing film.[2] German cinema was focused upon, with films from German directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog.[6]
Producer Dino De Laurentiis, screened a 90-second preview of his then-unreleased King Kong at the festival.[13]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cousin Cousine | Jean-Charles Tacchella | France | |
| Illustrious Corpses | Cadaveri eccellenti | Francesco Rosi | Italy, France |
| Death Race 2000 | Paul Bartel | United States | |
| Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven | Табор уходит в небо | Emil Loteanu | Soviet Union |
| Lumière | Jeanne Moreau | France, Italy | |
| Dersu Uzala | Akira Kurosawa | Soviet Union, Japan | |
| Adoption | Örökbefogadás | Márta Mészáros | Hungary |
| Mother Küsters' Trip to Heaven | Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | West Germany |
| The Devil's Playground | Fred Schepisi | Australia | |
| Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Joan Micklin Silver | United States | |
| The Best Way to Walk | La meilleure façon de marcher | Claude Miller | France |
| Kings of the Road | Im Lauf der Zeit | Wim Wenders | West Germany |
| Heart of Glass | Herz aus Glas | Werner Herzog | West Germany |
| Wellspring of My World | Herfra min verden går | Christian Braad Thomsen | Denmark |
| Wives | Hustruer | Anja Breien | Norway |
| Cantata de Chile | Humberto Solás | Cuba | |
| Submission | Scandalo | Salvatore Samperi | Italy |
| Harvest: 3,000 Years | ምርት ሦስት ሺህ ዓመት | Haile Gerima | Ethiopia |
| Independence Day | Bobby Roth | United States | |
The Canadian Cinema program had been slated to include Don Owen's film Partners, but it was pulled from the festival at the last minute after a dispute with the Ontario Censor Board about a brief sex scene in the film.[14]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Absence | L'Absence | Brigitte Sauriol | Canada |
| Before the Time Comes | Le temps de l'avant | Anne Claire Poirier | Canada |
| The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | Nicolas Gessner | France, Canada | |
| Love at First Sight | Rex Bromfield | Canada | |
| A Pacemaker and a Sidecar | L'Eau chaude, l'eau frette | André Forcier | Canada |
| The Supreme Kid | Peter Bryant | Canada | |
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch | Deepa Mehta | Canada | |
| Grey Gardens | Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer | United States | |
| Harlan County, USA | Barbara Kopple | United States | |
| Hollywood on Trial | David Helpern | United States | |
| Not a Pretty Picture | Martha Coolidge | United States | |