The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is getting ready to roll out the red carpet for its 51st year, but the cost of tickets has some people thinking twice before they attend.
Chiyo Kim bought tickets to the world premiere of Whatcha Want, the latest comedy from writer-director Mina Shum.
But Kim says the price left her feeling a bit guilty.
“It was $106 per ticket,” she said. “It feels like we are just getting priced out more and more.”
Kim attended TIFF a few years ago when she was a volunteer at the festival and says she remembers it being more accessible.
“I haven’t been to the festival for many years, but this is kind of a shock,” she said.
According to TIFF’s website, regular screenings start at $30 for non-members, while premium screenings, which feature elevated experiences such as red carpet galas, premieres, and audience Q&As with the cast, start at $46.
But some fans say tickets are going for much more than that.
For instance, tickets to the premiere of Always Lalisa, the documentary about BLACKPINK star Lisa, are selling for $106 on Ticketmaster, while regular tickets range from $30 to $37.
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It’s a similar story for the premieres of other highly anticipated films like Palme d’Or winner Fjord, justice system thriller Prima Facie and the Ryan Gosling-produced Love of Your Life, which are all going for $106.
Others posted screenshots on Reddit of tickets in the first few rows of premieres selling for $128. Last year, screenings in the same tier went up to $98.
“It risks being something of a public relations problem for TIFF because they’re known as ‘the people’s festival’ and when regular festival-goers feel that they can’t afford it anymore, that’s not a good look for the festival,” said Charlie Keil, a professor at the Cinema Studies Institute at the University of Toronto.
Keil says TIFF is likely raising prices because it can and because it needs to.
“They’re suffering from the same kinds of constraints that a lot of cultural institutions are, where inflation keeps pushing all their costs up,” he said. “Until it gets to the point where people push back and say, ‘I won’t pay those kinds of prices,’ you kind of understand why TIFF would set the prices where they are.”
Those ticket prices are not deterring film buffs like Stephen Brown.
He travelled from Atlanta for the festival and plans to make the most of it.
“I’ve got 39 tickets and that includes a few conversation talk backs but a lot of different movies … as many as four movies a day in some cases,” Brown said. “I think I might’ve spent US$2,000 to US$3,000 on it.”
Joe Baker has attended TIFF for the last decade and is seeing 17 films this year.
“[TIFF tickets are] always more than going to a regular show, but it is what it is. It’s TIFF. Plus, you also get to see some of the producers and directors,” he said.
Kim, however, says the one screening is all her wallet can handle.
“I’ll probably be able to stream these films for free at home a few months later,” she said.
Global News reached out to TIFF about its ticket prices but had not received a response by publication time.
TIFF runs from Sept. 10 through 20.
With files from The Canadian Press