The 1st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place at Windsor Arms Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada between October 18 and October 24, 1976.

[5][6][7][8] Most of the Hollywood studios later withdrew their submissions citing reason that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their films.

[2] German cinema was focused upon, with films from German directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog.

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

[13] 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.