1976 Toronto International Film Festival

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 became the 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.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis, screened a 90-second preview of his then-unreleased King Kong at the festival.

Canadian Cinema
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.