1984 Toronto International Film Festival

The 9th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 15, 1984.^[1][2]

The festival screened 225 feature films and more than half of them were Canadian films.^[3] This included the introduction of the dedicated Perspective stream, which remained in place until the 2010s as the festival's primary platform for new Canadian films, as well as Front and Centre, a special retrospective program of historically and artistically significant Canadian films, and Late Night, Great Nights, a late-night program of Canadian genre and cult films resembling the festival's later Midnight Madness program.^[4]

In 1984 Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time list was released. It was created by the votes of film critics, professors, fans and festival staff.^[3][5]

In addition to the film programs noted below, a special tribute event was held to honour actor Warren Beatty for his career, including a special presentation of his films Bonnie and Clyde and Shampoo.^[8]

Formerly known as Culture Under Pressure, this program features films about social and political interaction between different cultures.

Front & Centre was a special one-off program, which screened culturally and artistically important films from throughout the entire history of Canadian cinema.^[9]

Programmed in collaboration with the Harbourfront Centre, Eyes Write featured a selection of film adaptations of Canadian and international literature.^[10]

Films which represent some form of collaboration between the Canadian and international film industries, such as international actors and filmmakers working in Canada, or Canadians working on international films.

A program of experimental and avant-garde films.^[9] The following program is not necessarily complete, as media only reported a selection of films rather than the complete program,^[11] and may still include further films listed in the unconfirmed section below. A few relatively mainstream feature films were included in this program, to highlight the evolution of a director, such as Phillip Borsos or Joyce Wieland, who had made both experimental and conventional films over the course of their career.

Titles listed by the Toronto International Film Festival in its 1984 retrospective list on Letterboxd,^[12] but not reflected in available media reportage to verify which program they screened in. Most are short films, which may have screened in Experiments or alongside a feature film in one of the main programs, although a few of them are feature films.

In conjunction with the Front and Centre program, the festival conducted a poll of film critics to determine the top ten Canadian films from the entire history of Canadian cinema.^[9] Following the festival's conclusion, the festival and the Canadian Film Institute collaborated on a touring minifestival to screen the ten films, alongside a selection of short films, in other Canadian cities.^[13]

• Official site
• TIFF: A Reel History: 1976 - 2012
• 1984 Toronto International Film Festival at IMDb