A look back at 50 years of foibles, gaffes and triumphs at TIFF

TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival turns 50 this year, marking a half-century of triumphs, gaffes and a fair number of famous foibles. Here’s a look at the festival's evolution and the big events that helped shaped it.

1976 — TIFF debuts as the Festival of Festivals, launched by the late Bill Marshall, late Dusty Cohl and Henk Van der Kolk to showcase the best films from festivals around the world. The fledgling affair is largely regarded as a local event and unspools in October, when organizers promise visitors a glorious late summer. It snows. They discuss the cost of renting snowblowers. Future fests move to September.

1978 — Publicity boss Helga Stephenson is punched in the shoulder as a mob tries to enter an overflowing screening for “In Praise of Older Women.” A disp