Separate from the festival's annual Canada's Top Ten list of the best Canadian films released within that year, it was redone in 1993, 2004 and 2015.
[1] The list was started in 1984 because Canadian film was taking off, and was made by polling critics, professors, fans and festival staff.
[2] According to Piers Handling, a TIFF director, the idea of the Top 10 was to introduce the public to Canadian film, and around 100 people were polled.
[2] The 1993 list was noted for the addition of the first female director, Patricia Rozema, and Mon oncle Antoine being ranked first for a second time, despite the popularity of Oscar-nominated classics Jesus of Montreal and The Decline of the American Empire.
[10] Eric Moreault, writing for La Presse, dismissed Atanarjuat's first-place finish as nonsensical, noting Mon oncle Antoine topped all previous versions.