The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is not only the largest festival in Canada, but also among the most highly regarded in the world.
For years, I heard high praise for this star-studded celebration of film excellence from my peers in the film industry. As a young filmmaker living only a short three-and-a-half-hour drive from Toronto, I figured that it was high time I check out TIFF!
I decided to spend the opening weekend in downtown Toronto — presumably watching the most beautiful films, rubbing elbows with the most glamorous stars, and experiencing all that a film festival could offer.
Get Your Tickets!
When the full slate of films for TIFF released in August, my friends and I created a four-day schedule with the eight films we most wanted to see.
We were excited, especially since TIFF had announced a free Under 25 Pass which gave youth discounted or free tickets, early access to purchases, and savings on concessions and merchandise.
I signed in to purchase tickets on the TIFF website at 12:06 p.m., only six minutes after sales opened for early-bird pass holders. To my surprise, every film I clicked on displayed the same message: tickets were only available for individuals with early-bird passes.
Odd, I thought, considering I was a holder of one. I scrambled through Reddit to discover that I, along with hundreds of others, had received this screen in lieu of one that plainly said “sold out.”
After sorting by date, I eventually found three films with open seating! Between three films, I purchased eight tickets totalling $428.50.
Movie Time!
On Sept. 12 we attended the first of our three films at TIFF, arriving at Scotiabank Theatre 45 minutes ahead of our screening.
Hundreds of people crammed inside barricades that lined the southernmost lane of Richmond Street West. Volunteers in bright yellow shirts belted, “Theatre two!” as they waved paddles with the number two on them.
Two lines had formed on the street, each with at least a hundred people. The attire of moviegoers ranged from Hawaiian shirts and khaki shorts to three-piece suits and ballgowns. I stood in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt wondering whether I was under or overdressed.
After about 30 minutes, the first line was ushered into the theatre.
As volunteers formed a human barricade on the sidewalk, pedestrians were blocked from crossing and forced to step into the backlog of traffic on Richmond Street.
Among said traffic were a variety of black Cadillac SUVs. Each SUV had tinted windows and were labelled with their respective studio; the one nearest to us was from Elevation Pictures.
Every few minutes an SUV would pull right in front of the barricades, and tall men in sunglasses and suits would emerge to open the back doors of the car. Men and women in perfectly tailored suits and glittering dresses would exit from each car and be privately escorted into the theatre.
I noticed a group of camera operators tracking a man in a bright white suit. I thought he looked familiar; maybe I had seen him in a television show or something. Before I could get a good look, I was interrupted by the security guard inspecting my tote bag with a wooden dowel.
During the less than 200-metre trek from the doors on Richmond Street to the doors of theatre two, we were herded between six different volunteers, each one confirming and reconfirming that I, at the front of the line (and thus the leader), was certain that the hundreds of people behind me were here for the film in theatre two.
We eventually scanned our tickets at the door and were ushered into the cinema.
Although we were a party of three, seats were only available in blocks of two or less. Two of us sat in Row Q, and one of us sat in Row N alone. As we climbed the stairs, we passed five rows of seats all marked as “reserved.”
A minute before the film started, my friend in Row N waved to us in Row Q. As I waved back, I looked around the theatre and noticed blocks of anywhere from two to eight empty seats.
Weird. I thought this was a sold-out show.
As the lights began to dim and I reclined my seat into the back wall of the theatre, I thought, “Boy, I wonder which celebrities were supposed to sit up there?”
City-Wide Festival
After the film, we walked along the pedestrian-filled King Street. A whole stretch of the street had been blocked off and turned into a giant walkable space for the duration of the festival.
We passed iconic Toronto landmarks like the Roy Thompson Hall and the Royal Alexandria Theatre. Two large illuminated TIFF signs bookended the festival road. At each end stood a line of people waiting for a volunteer to take their photo.
Impatient, but still needing to photograph ourselves (thus proving our presence at the festival), we snapped the following selfie:
The next day began inside the John W. H. Bassett Theatre at 12:00 p.m.
After an ad reel, a TIFF presenter did a five-minute introduction for Seth Rogen, noting that he is “a Canadian writer, director, actor, and comedian, and known for his iconic laugh.”
After he concluded his speech, he introduced the second presenter who began by saying, “I won’t take up much of your time…” before beginning another five-minute introduction for Seth Rogen, noting that that he is “a Canadian writer, director, actor, and comedian, and known for his iconic laugh.”
For what it’s worth, the interview was quite interesting once the interviewee took the stage.
With some time to kill, we took to King Street to explore daytime festivities. From the TIFF gift shop to a popup for Nutella Peanut butter, there really were infinite activities for us!
After a bit of exploring in the hot sun, I decided to take a break on a bench just next to the Royal Alexandria Theatre when tall security guards in tailored black suits began barricading off the road. A horde of people rushed to cram around them. The crowd became so thick that I had to stand up to see what was going on.
A few minutes later, a black SUV pulled onto the pedestrian road.
The crowd erupted in screams. A group of women that stood closest to the SUV raised giant Bristol board signs above their heads.
An aide opened the door to the SUV, and out stepped movie icon of the early 2010s, Magic Mike himself, Channing Tatum.
As I squinted to get a better look at him, I felt a nudge on my back.
Before I could turn around, I looked up to see a woman above me. She, along with roughly 15 other people, now stood atop the bench that I had sat on mere minutes ago, leaning forward with their iPhones a foot away from their body.
After wrapping up the festival with two more films, I am happy to say we kept the whole trip under budget. Between films, food, and gas, we only spent about $1200.
Back to Windsor
After spending a few nights on King Street, I can safely say that Ontario is home to an incredible film festival.
On September 22, the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) released their own slate of films for 2026. Finally, a chance to right my wrongs!
Knowing what I did from my time at TIFF, I would have to act fast. I opened the WIFF website the minute tickets went live at 10:00 a.m. I scrolled through the list of films, from Fjord to Tangles to Minotaur, and even Channing Tatum’s Josephine.
All the films I had wanted to see at TIFF, they were here!
I clicked on the checkout and my stomach quickly filled with dread. What was I thinking? I don’t have the money to purchase tickets to nine films! My imminent financial ruin aside, I still decided to check out.
To my surprise, with student pricing the tickets came to only $45. Surely this was a glitch or some kind of accounting error? Regardless, I was just happy that I wouldn’t have to call CIBC to empty my savings account again.
Despite the promise of a fun week of movie-watching ahead, I can’t shake the anxiety that there may not be as many big names there to block off traffic on University Avenue.
When WIFF arrives between October 29 and November 8, make sure you don’t make the same mistakes as me: go online now and book your movie tickets!
Trust me, they’re an excellent time killer while you wait for your next celebrity photo op.