Opening film Cousin Cousine Number of films 127 feature films | Closing film Queen of the Gypsies | |
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Location Toronto, Ontario, Canada Hosted by Toronto International Film Festival Group Festival date October 18, 1976 (1976-10-18)–October 24, 1976 (1976-10-24) | ||
The 1st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place at Windsor Arms Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada between October 18 and October 24, 1976. Initially its name was Festival of Festivals, which remained until 1994 after which it become Toronto International Film Festival. 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. Most of the Hollywood studios later withdrew their submissions citing reason that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their films. Cousin Cousine, a French film directed by Jean-Charles Tacchella was selected as the opening film and screened at Ontario Place Cinesphere and Queen of the Gypsies was the closing film. German cinema was focused upon, with films from German directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog.
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Producer Dino De Laurentiis, screened 90 seconds preview from his then unreleased film King Kong at the festival.