The Film Reference Library

FREE to the public, the Film Reference Library (FRL), along with its new exhibition space the Canadian Film Gallery, is a vital resource for researchers and browsers alike.

The reference collection consists of 19,000 volumes, 65,000 film production files and more than 100 current film magazines, as well as 12,000 DVD, video and laserdisc titles and 6,000 soundtracks which can be viewed or listened to on the premises in The Gary and Joanne Reamey Media Centre situated within the BMO Study Centre. 

The Canadian Film Encyclopedia is a special online publication of the FRL which contains over 800 entries about Canadian films, filmmakers, and companies.

The FRL also houses several special archival collections, including the personal papers of such prominent Canadian filmmakers as Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Guy Maddin,Bruce McDonald, Patricia Rozema and Deepa Mehta and; the archives of Canadian film companies; and archives of collectors. These collections can be accessed by appointment in the Brian Linehan Research Room, named after the late broadcaster Brian Linehan, who donated a very special archive of his own research..  On permanent display is HOME , which tells the story of the land on which TIFF Bell Lightbox is situated.  It contains artifacts found during construction and interpretive panels explaining the historic development of this area of the city.

Currently on display in the Canadian Film Gallery is TIFF@35, an exhibition of the film posters of the past 35 years of the Toronto International Film Festival, along with a highlight from the library’s special collections, the Project Grizzly suit from the Peter Lynch film, “Project Grizzly”.

Coming up: in the Canadian Film Gallery – January 13 – July 3
Mary Pickford and the Invention of the Movie Star, the inaugural exhibition of the Canadian Film Gallery chronicles the life and career of Canada’s Mary Pickford, one of the first and greatest stars of the silent cinema, accompanied by a programme of four of her greatest films.  The exhibition is drawn from the Rob Brooks Mary Pickford Archive, one of the many special collections of the Film Reference Library.  The exhibition is FREE to the public.

Hours of Operation
The Film Reference Library and Canadian Film Gallery are, located on the 4th floor of TIFF Bell Lightbox and are open:

• Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 am–7:00 pm
  Sunday 12:00 pm–6:00 pm
  Closed Monday
  Holiday Closure: December 21-Jan 3
  For further information please call: 1-888-599-8433 (TIFF)