With an insider's pass to the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, enjoy the perspectives of a Toronto-based film historian during five exciting days of screenings and gala presentations of independent films and Hollywood features.

Starting at: $5,590 * Price includes special offer Make a Reservation Ask Us A Question or Call 855-330-1542
 Evening cityscape of Toronto
Evening cityscape of Toronto
 Enjoying a film together
Enjoying a film together
 Enjoying a film together at a film festival
Enjoying a film together at a film festival
 Awaiting a film screening
Awaiting a film screening
 The skyline of Toronto
The skyline of Toronto

Smithsonian at the Toronto International Film Festival

6 days from $5,590

With an insider's pass to the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, enjoy the perspectives of a Toronto-based film historian during five exciting days of screenings and gala presentations of independent films and Hollywood features.

or Call 855-330-1542

Tour Details

WHAT OUR TRAVELERS SAY

Can't be topped! Consistent quality and services. 

- Ann R.

JOURNEYS DISPATCHES

See All Journeys Dispatches ››

Accommodations

* Click on hotel name to visit hotel web-site.

InterContinental Toronto Centre

Toronto, Canada

Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, the InterContinental Toronto Centre is just steps from the new TIFF Bell Lightbox, Roy Thompson Hall, and Toronto's famed Entertainment district offering the best in theater, sports, dining, attractions, and nightlife. Guest rooms are spacious and comfortable, offering all the modern ammenities. Each guest room offers breathtaking views of either Lake Ontario, bustling downtown Toronto, or the beautiful city skyline. There is a restaurant, lounge, business and fitness center plus an indoor pool and spa. The hotel is just moments away from the CN Tower, Rogers Centre (SkyDome) Air Canada Centre, and Historic Union Station.

Activity Level


Expectations: Shorter tour featuring one city and hotel stay. Light pace with walking on crowded city streets. Early morning briefings in hotel with remainder of the day and evening to attend film screenings. Lines and waits for entrance at some screenings.

Appropriate for: Travelers in good health with overall good mobility and stamina.  

Special Air Rates/Services

FlexAir is designed to provide you with the flexibility and choice you need to personalize your air travel experience. Explore a wide range of flight options in consultation with our experienced travel professionals to select the flights, routing, class of service, and dates of travel that most fit your needs. Our partner tour operator has negotiated contracts with a wide variety of carriers that allow them to hold flight reservations and then issue your ticket close to departure without additional fees. This protects you from the need to purchase published-fare tickets, which must be ticketed within 24 hours of purchase. FlexAir reservations provide the flexibility to adjust reservations without penalty and to accommodate extensions and upgrades right up until ticketing time, usually around 60 days before departure. We look forward to providing you with more choice and the best possible itinerary for your air travel plans.

Program Includes:

  • Guaranteed transfers between the airport and your overseas accommodations upon arrival and departure (in most cases). We will provide you with all of the details you need to guarantee your transfer.
  • Air schedule change and delay assistance. Book FlexAir to ensure assistance should schedule changes or delays impact your air travel plans.
  • Flight insurance worth up to $250,000, subject to policy terms, is automatically included.
  • Confirmed airline seat assignments at the time of booking (in most cases).
Additional Information

Participants will need a valid U.S. Passport or passport of their home country to enter Canada.

In order to attend as many films as possible, lectures are scheduled for early mornings. Afternoons and evenings are free to attend films on own.

Gala film screening (dress code) is business casual to business formal. Jackets and collared shirts for men, pantsuits or dresses for women.

There is no group transportation provided to/from the hotel and theaters for screenings. Many of the participating theaters are within a reasonable walking distance from the hotel. Participants may also opt to take public transportation which is readily available.

Testimonials

WHAT OUR TRAVELERS SAY

Can't be topped! Consistent quality and services. 

- Ann R.
Reading List
Fodor's Toronto: with Niagara Falls & the Niagara Wine Region (Full-color Travel Guide)
By: Fodor's Travel Guides
Making Movies
By: Sidney Lumet
Why does a director choose a particular script? What must they do in order to keep actors fresh and truthful through take after take of a single scene? How do you stage a shootout—involving more than one hundred extras and three colliding taxis—in the heart of New York’s diamond district? What does it take to keep the studio honchos happy? From the first rehearsal to the final screening, Making Movies is a master’s take, delivered with clarity, candor, and a wealth of anecdote. For in this book, Sidney Lumet, one of our most consistently acclaimed directors, gives us both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day’s Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict—and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino—Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic.
What Is Cinema? Vol. 1
By: Andre Bazin
André Bazin's What Is Cinema? (volumes I and II) have been classics of film studies for as long as they've been available and are considered the gold standard in the field of film criticism. Although Bazin made no films, his name has been one of the most important in French cinema since World War II. He was co-founder of the influential Cahiers du Cinéma, which under his leadership became one of the world's most distinguished publications. Championing the films of Jean Renoir (who contributed a short foreword to Volume I), Orson Welles, and Roberto Rossellini, he became the protégé of François Truffaut, who honors him touchingly in his forword to Volume II. This new edition includes graceful forewords to each volume by Bazin scholar and biographer Dudley Andrew, who reconsiders Bazin and his place in contemporary film study. The essays themselves are erudite but always accessible, intellectual, and stimulating. As Renoir puts it, the essays of Bazin "will survive even if the cinema does not."
The New Biographical Dictionary of Film: Sixth Edition
By: David Thomson
With more than 100 new entries, from Amy Adams, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Cary Joji Fukunaga to Joaquin Phoenix, Mia Wasikowska, and Robin Wright, and completely updated,  here from David Thomson—“The greatest living writer on the movies” (John Banville, New Statesman); “Our most argumentative and trustworthy historian of the screen” (Michael Ondaatje)—is the latest edition of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, which topped Sight & Sound’s poll of international critics and writers as THE BEST FILM BOOK EVER WRITTEN.3/7
International Film Festivals: Contemporary Cultures and History Beyond Venice and Cannes
Film Art: An Introduction
By: David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, Jeff Smith
Film is an art form with a language and an aesthetic all its own. Since 1979, David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson and now, Co-Author, Jeff Smith's Film Art has been the best-selling and most widely respected introduction to the analysis of cinema. Taking a skills-centered approach supported by examples from many periods and countries, the authors help students develop a core set of analytical skills that will enrich their understanding of any film, in any genre. In-depth examples deepen students' appreciation for how creative choices by filmmakers affect what viewers experience and how they respond. Film Art is generously illustrated with more than 1,000 frame enlargements taken directly from completed films, providing concrete illustrations of key concepts. Along with updated examples and expanded coverage of digital filmmaking, the eleventh edition of Film Art delivers SmartBook, first and only adaptive reading experience currently available, designed to help students stay focused, maximize study time and retain basic concepts.
Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings
By: Leo Braudy, Marshall Cohen
Since publication of the first edition in 1974, Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen's Film Theory and Criticism has been the most widely used and cited anthology of critical writings about film. Now in its eighth edition, this landmark text continues to offer outstanding coverage of more than a century of thought and writing about the movies. Incorporating classic texts by pioneers in film theory and cutting-edge essays by contemporary scholars, the text examines both historical and theoretical viewpoints on the subject.Building upon the wide range of selections and the extensive historical coverage that marked previous editions, this new compilation stretches from the earliest attempts to define the cinema to the most recent efforts to place film in the contexts of psychology, sociology, and philosophy, and to explore issues of gender and race. Reorganized into ten sections-each comprising the major fields of critical controversy and analysis-this new edition features reformulated introductions and biographical headnotes that contextualize the readings, making the text more accessible than ever to students, film enthusiasts, and general readers alike. A wide-ranging critical and historical survey, Film Theory and Criticism remains the leading text for undergraduate courses in film theory. It is also ideal for graduate courses in film theory and criticism.
Introduction to Documentary, Third Edition
By: Bill Nichols
The third edition of Bill Nichols’s best-selling text provides an up-to-date introduction to the most important issues in documentary history and criticism. A new chapter, "I Want to Make a Documentary: Where Do I Start?" guides readers through the steps of planning and preproduction and includes an example of a project proposal for a film that went on to win awards at major festivals. Designed for students in any field that makes use of visual evidence and persuasive strategies, Introduction to Documentary identifies the genre’s distinguishing qualities and teaches the viewer how to read documentary film. Each chapter takes up a discrete question, from "How did documentary filmmaking get started?" to "Why are ethical issues central to documentary filmmaking?" Here Nichols has fully rewritten each chapter for greater clarity and ease of use, including revised discussions of earlier films and new commentary on dozens of recent films from The Cove to The Act of Killing and from Gasland to Restrepo.
24x36 World Wall Map by Smithsonian Journeys - Tan Oceans Special Edition (24x36 Laminated)

*As an Amazon Associate, Smithsonian Journeys earns from qualifying purchases.

Travel Insurance

For the convenience of our travelers, Smithsonian Journeys includes a basic medical expense and evacuation plan through Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand, at no additional charge. This plan provides post-departure Medical and Dental coverage of $250,000 per person and Emergency Assistance and Transportation coverage of $1,000,000 per person (U.S. Residents Only). Note: For full details regarding these coverages please review the following Plan Documents here.

In addition, we recommend that travelers purchase a travel protection plan to help protect their travel investment from unforeseen events such as cancellation due to illness, flight delays due to adverse weather, baggage loss, and more. For your convenience, Smithsonian Journeys offers an optional Travel Protection Plan administered by Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand. For those interested, optional "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage is available for an additional charge. Note: Certain eligibility requirements apply and Cancel for Any Reason coverage is not available to New York residents. For full details regarding this coverage please review the following Plan Documents here.

To learn more about the Travel Protection Plan, you may visit https://www.generalipartner.com/smithsonianjourneys or call the administrator, Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand at (866) 501-3252.

Related Tours