# 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.

## Programme
### Gala Presentation

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Cousin Cousine | Cousin Cousine | Jean-Charles Tacchella | France |
| Illustrious Corpses | Cadaveri eccellenti | Francesco Rosi | Italy, France |
| Death Race 2000 | Death Race 2000 | Paul Bartel | United States |
| Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven | Табор уходит в небо | Emil Loteanu | Soviet Union |
| Lumière | Lumière | Jeanne Moreau | France, Italy |
| Dersu Uzala | 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 | The Devil's Playground | Fred Schepisi | Australia |
| Bernice Bobs Her Hair | 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 | Cantata de Chile | Humberto Solás | Cuba |
| Submission | Scandalo | Salvatore Samperi | Italy |
| Harvest: 3,000 Years | ምርት ሦስት ሺህ ዓመት | Haile Gerima | Ethiopia |
| Independence Day | Independence Day | Bobby Roth | United States |

### 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.
| 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 | The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | Nicolas Gessner | France, Canada |
| Love at First Sight | Love at First Sight | Rex Bromfield | Canada |
| A Pacemaker and a Sidecar | L'Eau chaude, l'eau frette | André Forcier | Canada |
| The Supreme Kid | The Supreme Kid | Peter Bryant | Canada |

### Documentaries

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch | At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch | Deepa Mehta | Canada |
| Grey Gardens | Grey Gardens | Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer | United States |
| Harlan County, USA | Harlan County, USA | Barbara Kopple | United States |
| Hollywood on Trial | Hollywood on Trial | David Helpern | United States |
| Not a Pretty Picture | Not a Pretty Picture | Martha Coolidge | United States |