Online Streaming Resources
- Audio Cine Films This link opens in a new windowAudio Cine Films Inc. offers exclusive access to studios such as: Walt Disney Pictures, Disney Nature, Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Pixar Animated Studios, Orion Pictures, United Artists, MGM Studios, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Universal (MCA) Studios among many others. PLEASE NOTE: ACF works best in Google Chrome. Other browsers may experience a delay in accessing content.
- Criterion on Demand This link opens in a new windowCriterion-on-Demand is a Canadian streaming platform that represents a large number of feature film producers, including: 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, DreamWorks SKG, Mongrel Media, Sony Pictures Classics, Alliance Films, Miramax Films, Warner Brothers, Lionsgate Films, etc. Our title selection includes 1920 classics, new releases, foreign films, literary adaptations, documentaries, animated titles, and independent features. Please note: Criterion on Demand (COD) is not affiliated with Criterion Film Collection nor Criterion Channel.
- Kanopy Streaming This link opens in a new windowKanopy is a streaming service that provides the platform to a host of educational video productions covering a wide range of subjects, from arts, humanities, health, business, education and more. The collection has over 800 video titles from various producers.
The majority of the videos are closed captioned and clip-making is allowed. - Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowFilms On Demand is a Web-based digital video delivery service that allows you to view streaming videos. Toronto Metropolitan has access to Master Academic Collection and World Cinema Collection. Master Academic Collection is a video collection of 39K titles, with many well-known producers, such as A&E, PBS,National Geographic, TED, and HBO Documentary Films. World Cinema has 1000+ foreign language films.
World Cinema Collection (Films on Demand)
This streaming collection includes the best of the silent era, groundbreaking international directors, American and European masterpieces from the mid-20th century, award-winning contemporary films from Global Lens, and films from Africa and the African diaspora from ArtMattan Productions. The collection shines a light on the history of cinema while also providing a glimpse into the cultures and issues of countries around the world—making it useful beyond film studies departments by bringing value to programs in area studies, political science, history, world languages, and more.
Stream current episodes and past seasons of comedies, dramas and documentaries.
Note: Create a personal account.
Stream thought-provoking full length Canadian documentaries.
Netflix YouTube Channel - Original Educational Documentaries
Netflix allows instructors to screen some original Netflix documentaries in their classrooms: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/57695
A selection of their films are now featured on Netflix's YouTube channel.
Kino Lorber Youtube Channel - Free Films Online
Kino Lorber Puts Online 50 Free Films: Watch Classics by Jean-Luc Godard, Derek Jarman, Taika Waititi & Other Major Filmmakers
List of Video Streaming databases: https://learn.library.torontomu.ca/az.php?q=video
- National Film Board of Canada
Canada’s public producer and distributor, the National Film Board of Canada creates interactive works, social-issue documentaries, auteur animation and alternative dramas that provide the world with a unique Canadian perspective. The collection includes documentaries, animations, experimental films and fiction. NFB showcase films that take a stand on issues of global importance that matter to Canadians: stories about the environment, human rights, international conflict, the arts and more. The University Libraries subscription to NFB education gives you access to 500 films not available to the general public.
- Bates Visual Guide to Physical Examination This link opens in a new windowBates’ Visual Guide delivers head-to-toe and systems-based physical examination techniques for the (Advanced) Assessment or Introduction to Clinical Medicine course. The site features more than 8 hours of video content. Also includes OSCE Clinical Skills Videos which are designed to help you prepare for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, or OSCEs, by testing your clinical reasoning skills. In each video you will observe a clinical encounter and be given the opportunity to develop an assessment, or differential diagnosis, and provide an appropriate diagnostic workup.
- Black Studies Center This link opens in a new windowBlack Studies Center brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. It is comprised of several cross-searchable, component databases, which include:
- Curio This link opens in a new windowCurio.ca includes news reports, documentaries, and archival material, as well as programs like The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, Doc Zone with Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Enquête with Alain Gravel. The portal has seven main subject categories – Arts, Business, Education, History and Geography, Health, Science, and Social Sciences.
Curio - News in Review is now available through Toronto Metropolitan's Curio subscription. Access Curio - News in Review. - Digital Theatre+ This link opens in a new windowDigital Theatre+ is the world’s leading educational platform for the performing arts. DT+ is constantly evolving and growing, with more filmed productions and interviews as well as superb written content being added every month.
- Drama Online Core Collection This link opens in a new window
The Core Collection forms the heart of Drama Online. This collection is truly the foundation of the platform and offers a diverse and rich catalogue of plays by the world's leading dramatists.
- University of Fashion This link opens in a new windowThe University of Fashion is the first and largest online fashion design video library in the world. This site has many hundreds of step-by-step video lessons teaching all aspects of fashion design. University of Fashion teaches all the major fashion disciplines, e.g. draping, pattern making, fashion art, product development, CAD fashion art, sewing, CAD pattern making, fashion business, knits, accessories, lectures and much more. Their lessons are organized by Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.
- On the Boards This link opens in a new windowOntheBoards.tv is a portal for viewing full-length, high-quality performance films on your TV, desktop, or laptop. It functions as a streaming subscription service and an archive for ground-breaking artistic projects and contemporary performances.
The films featured on the website include international and US-based contemporary artists, some of whom are rarely seen live stateside, with works that might not be performed again. - Naxos Video Library This link opens in a new windowThe Naxos Video Library brings you an extensive streaming video library of classical music performances, opera, ballet, live concerts and documentaries. It includes the Naxos DVD label, Opus Arte, Arthaus, Dacapo, EuroArts, among others and is continuously updated to offer the best selection of performing arts videos.
An online search engine, allows users to search by composer, production, artist, venue, role or genre. - Nursing Theorists This link opens in a new windowFitne offers the Nurse Theorists Series for your education needs. These videos are designed to show nursing students how theories are applied in practice. They also provide examples for administrators to see how implementing certain theories can save money and increase efficiency of institutions. Each video presents information on a theory, gives case study examples to show the application of a theory and concludes with a discussion summarizing and synthesizing the theory and application.
- OnArchitecture This link opens in a new windowOnArchitecture is an online audiovisual service providing a synthetic, deep and detailed panorama of the world's main authors, works, experiences and problematics related to the field of architecture.
OnArchitecture's collection features original videos, such as interviews, buildings and installations, all of this enriched with a selection of complementary material -documents and audiovisuals- about the main authors and figures of contemporary architecture.
As of 2022, a further 200 videos available - interviews and buildings. - Pidgeon Digital This link opens in a new windowThe online version of The Pidgeon Digital collection of talks by contemporary architects and related designers. The collection comprises over 130 talks by architects and engineers, including Frank Gehry, Balkrishna Doshi, Terry Farrell, Richard MacCormac, Neil Thomas, and Hans Hollein among many others. Pidgeon Digital was founded in 1979 by Monica Pidgeon (long-time editor of the influential magazine Architectural Design) and lectures are continually added.
- Qwest TV This link opens in a new windowStreaming video service created by Quincy Jones. It features documentaries, concerts, archives and other content as they relate to “jazz and beyond.”
Co-founded by music legend Quincy Jones and jazz impresario and producer Reza Ackbaraly, Qwest TV features a diverse collection of hundreds of concerts and documentaries, with a focus on Jazz, Soul, Funk, Blues, African music, Latin music, Indian music and more. - Theatre in Video This link opens in a new windowTheatre in Video contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world‘s leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors.
Free Online Film Websites
- Films For Action
Films for Action is a community-powered learning library for people who want to change the world. Films For Action has cataloged over 1,500 of the best films and videos that can be watched free online. These films address social, environmental, and media-related issues. - Goethe Institut
Over 100 German films – classic movies as well as current productions – are available for free on our eMedia platform, the eLibrary. - Internet Archive Moving Image Archive
This library contains digital movies uploaded by Archive users which range from classic full-length films, to daily alternative news broadcasts, to cartoons and concerts. Many of these videos are available for free download. - Prelinger Archives
Prelinger Archives was founded in 1983 by Rick Prelinger in New York City. Over the next twenty years, it grew into a collection of over 60,000 "ephemeral" (advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur) films. In 2002, the film collection was acquired by the Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. - UbuWeb: Film & Video
Educational resource for avant-garde film and video.
Other Library Collections
- Toronto Public Library Film & Video collection
Includes holdable DVDs that can be reserved online and non-holdable DVDs that you need to find at a library branch, DVDs that have recently become available for reserving online. Borrow movies and TV shows to stream in your web browser or enjoy offline on your smartphone or tablet. - HooplaBorrow digital music, video and comics to stream in your web browser or enjoy offline on your smartphone or tablet. Hoopla requires the one-time creation of a user account with a valid library card number.
- Kanopy Streaming via TPLClassic films, world cinema, documentaries and popular movies available for on-demand streaming. Available anywhere.
The TIFF Film Reference Library accepts walk-in visitors.
If you would like to visit the Lightbox when it is closed, please call at 416-934-3275 upon arrival to be let into the building.
If you would like an appointment, please contact libraryservices@tiff.net to book a time or request research assistance. They recommend booking at least two days in advance when possible, to ensure the requested materials can be made accessible.
To contact the library and arrange a tour or to view materials, call 416.599.TIFF / 416-599-8433 x2, email libraryservices@tiff.net or fill out this request form. Here are the library hours.
Search the TIFF Reference Library collection.
The Film Reference Library is located on the 4th floor of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square (corner of King Street and John Street).
Film Reference Library and CIBC Canadian Film Gallery
4th Floor, TIFF Lightbox
350 King Street West, Toronto
416-934-3275 | libraryservices@tiff.net
Stream Free Movies Online
Tubi
Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service featuring 40,000 films and television shows.
Finding Other Media Resources
The Internet Archive includes millions of free books, movies, software, music, and more.
Academic Libraries Video Trust s a service facilitating the preservation of audiovisual (“AV”) works in the collections of member libraries. The principal activity of ALVT is to provide a clearinghouse and repository of digital versions of selected AV works currently available only in VHS and other obsolete AV formats, pursuant of Section 108 of the United States Copyright Act.
Creative Commons Search searches across more than 300 million images. It goes beyond simple search to aggregate results across multiple public repositories into a single catalogue and facilitates reuse through features like machine-generated tags and one-click attribution.
Educational Media Reviews Online is an open access database of critical reviews of media from major educational and documentary distributors and independent filmmakers. The reviews are written by librarians and teaching faculty from across the United States and Canada.
The Open Video Project is repository of open access digitized videos for education and learning purposes
The National Film Registry Collection: Library of Congress includes a list of movies deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" that are earmarked for preservation by the Library of Congress.
Local Film Theatres & Resources
- The Revue Cinema
The Revue has occupied its Roncesvalles Avenue location since 1912, and until June, 2006, never closed its doors. That gave it the distinction of being one of the oldest continuously running movie theatres in the country. The Revue Film Society, formed by residents and cinephiles upset that their much-loved cinema was closing, raised close to $130,000 to support a rescue effort. Early in October, 2007, The Revue re-opened with a gala screening of Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot and a post-screening celebration. The next chapter in the theatre’s history has now begun, using the new motto: Reel Diversity, Real Community. - The Royal
Originally built in 1939, The Royal Cinema is an historic Art Moderne movie house located in the heart of Little Italy. The 390-seat theatre was known as the Pylon when it first opened in 1939. Over time, it’s become one of Toronto’s most cherished landmarks. - TIFF Cinemateque
TIFF's year round programming provides a platform to watch, discover, and discuss classic and contemporary cinema. Through film screenings and retrospectives, subscription series, and on-stage conversations with expert guests, we invite audiences to deepen their engagement with the moving image. - Toronto Reference LibraryIn the Arts Department on the 5th floor of the Toronto Reference Library you'll find an extensive collection of materials about the art and business of film and television. The collection includes: books and periodicals on the history of cinema, film genres, biographies, film criticism, directors and filmmaking, independent and documentary film, film budgeting, Screenplays and screenwriting manuals, dictionaries, indexes, filmographies, and manuals, industry directories, film reviews, clipping files on Canadian personalities and organizations, posters and still photos, movie soundtracks and classic radio programs, and documentary films on video.
- Vtape
Vtape is a vibrant distribution organization that represents an international collection of contemporary and historical video art and media works by artists. We make this collection accessible to curators and programmers, educators, scholars and public audiences worldwide. In addition to providing a distribution framework for established and emerging artists, Vtape is committed to establishing video art preservation and exhibition standards, and strives to support hybrid practices in an increasingly complex technical milieu.
Historical Films Including Newsreels, Radio and Other Media
- AP ArchiveThis film and video archive of The Associated Press includes over 1.7 million global news and entertainment video stories dating back to 1895, sourced both from AP's own coverage and from our premium content partners. It includes the British Movietone collection of newsreels from 1895-1986.
- Black Film ArchiveBlack Film Archive is a living register of Black films. In its current iteration, it showcases Black films made from 1915 to 1979 currently streaming.
- British Movietone ArchivePerhaps the world's largest newsreel archive spanning 1895-1986, this site is rich in coverage of news events, celebrities, sports, music, social history, science, lifestyle and quirky.
- British Film Institute (BFI) YouTube ChannelPresents content from the BFI's impressive archive of film, video and television programs.
- British PathéBritish Pathé is a dynamic cross-media company and a market leader in the licensing of footage to the broadcast industry. The company is a major supplier to production companies, museums and advertisers worldwide
- British Pathé YouTube ChannelNow considered to be the finest newsreel archive in the world, British Pathé is a treasure trove of 85,000 films unrivalled in their historical and cultural significance.
- Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British EmpireThis website holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online. You can search or browse for films by country, date, topic, or keyword. Over 350 of the most important films in the catalogue are presented with extensive critical notes written by our academic research team.
- Moving Image Archive (Internet Archive)This rapidly growing library of digital films, movies and video can be limited to categories including News & Public Affairs, and Television Archive News Search Service
- UN Radio ClassicsAn online archive of documentary and dramatic programmes that offer a unique way of experiencing key historical moments of the United Nations and of the world throughout the second half of the 20th century.
- National Archives (UK) -- Panjab 1947: A Heart DividedThe National Archives has recorded the narratives of four Panjabi elders uprooted from their homeland during the Partition of British India in 1947. At least 18 million people were uprooted and one million died in the mass migration that followed.