Shiftheads - TIFF Opening Weekend: Why Some People Go To The Same Film Festival For Decades

Shane Hewitt and The Nightshift · Sep 12, 2026 · 9m

Ben Harrison explains what keeps people coming back to TIFF year after year, including attendees well into their seventies and eighties who treat it as an annual tradition. It isn't really about the movies themselves, he says. It's the friendships and conversations that only happen once a year, on the same streets, at the same festival.

This year's lineup includes what one acclaimed 83-year-old British director says will be his final film, alongside a personal project from a two-time Oscar winner who built it around raising a young daughter after his character's arc in a major franchise…