1976 Toronto International Film Festival

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 (1976-10-18)–October 24, 1976 (1976-10-24)[2]
Language| English
Website| tiff.net

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]

## Programme

[edit]

### Gala Presentation

[edit]

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

### Canadian Cinema

[edit]

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

### Documentaries

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Fun facts about TIFF". CBC News. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
2. ^ a b c d "When TIFF Was a Festival of Festivals". Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
3. ^ "The TIFF 35th Anniversary Facts and Figures". Economia della Cultura (2). 2011. doi:10.1446/35425. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
4. ^ "In pictures: Toronto Film Festival history and highlights". BBC News. August 30, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
5. ^ "TIFF History". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
6. ^ a b "Providing captivating films for 33 years". Retrieved October 12, 2013.
7. ^ "Toronto International Film Festival". Retrieved October 12, 2013.
8. ^ "The Toronto International Film Festival North America's Largest Festival - A Lauch Pad For Oscar Campaigns". Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
9. ^ "Film Festivals — Then and Now By David Sterritt". Archived from the original on September 6, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
10. ^ TCousin Cousine at tiff. 2012-09-07. ISBN 9781468914320. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
11. ^ "36 things you didn't know about TIFF". The Star. Toronto. August 24, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
12. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (January 16, 2008). "Dusty Cohl, 79, a Toronto Film Festival Founder". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
13. ^ "In pictures: Toronto Film Festival history and highlights". BBC News. August 30, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
14. ^ Robert Martin, "Cens(or) nonsense?" The Globe and Mail, October 30, 1976.

## External links

[edit]

* Official site
* TIFF: A Reel History: 1976 - 2012

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