The 12th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 1987. I've Heard the Mermaids Singing by Patricia Rozema was selected as the opening film.

The Princess Bride by Rob Reiner won the People's Choice Award at the festival. André the Giant, one of the stars of the film, sat on a girth constructed especially for him during the premiere of the film at the festival.

1987 Toronto International Film Festival

Awards

Programme

Galas

Aria by Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, Bill Bryden, Jean-Luc Godard, Derek Jarman, Franc Roddam, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Charles Sturridge and Julien Temple Boyfriends and Girlfriends by Eric Rohmer Dark Eyes by Nikita Mikhalkov The Glass Menagerie by Paul Newman I've Heard the Mermaids Singing by Patricia Rozema Night Zoo by Jean-Claude Lauzon Orphans by Alan J. Pakula The Princess Bride by Rob Reiner Sammy and Rosie Get Laid by Stephen Frears Too Outrageous! by Richard Benner

1987 Toronto International Film Festival

Special Presentations

Baby Boom by Charles Shyer

Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll by Taylor Hackford

Sister, Sister by Bill Condon

The Thief of Baghdad by Raoul Walsh

Contemporary World Cinema

Babette's Feast by Gabriel Axel

Barfly by Barbet Schroeder

The Belly of an Architect by Peter Greenaway

Big Shots by Robert Mandel

Comrades by Bill Douglas

A Death in the Family by Stewart Main and Peter Wells

Diary for My Lovers by Márta Mészáros

Dudes by Penelope Spheeris

Dust in the Wind by Hou Hsiao-hsien

Field of Honor by Jean-Pierre Denis

Five Corners by Tony Bill

A Flame in My Heart by Alain Tanner

Gaby: A True Story by Luis Mandoki

Good Morning, Babylon by Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani

Half of Heaven by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón

Jean de Florette by Claude Berri

Julia and Julia by Peter Del Monte

Keep Your Right Up by Jean-Luc Godard

King Lear by Jean-Luc Godard

Magdalena Viraga by Nina Menkes

Matewan by John Sayles

Maurice by James Ivory

Mauvais Sang by Leos Carax

Near Dark by Kathryn Bigelow

Night of the Pencils by Héctor Olivera

Paradise by Doris Dörrie

Personal Services by Terry Jones

A Prayer for the Dying by Mike Hodges

Repentance by Tengiz Abuladze

Slam Dance by Wayne Wang

Sorceress by Suzanne Schiffman

South of Reno by Mark Rezyka

A Successful Man by Humberto Solás

A Taxing Woman by Juzo Itami

The Theme by Gleb Panfilov

Tough Guys Don't Dance by Norman Mailer

Travelling avant by Jean-Charles Tacchella

Under the Sun of Satan by Maurice Pialat

Wish You Were Here by David Leland

Perspectives Canada

And Then You Die by Francis Mankiewicz

Candy Mountain by Robert Frank and Rudy Wurlitzer

The Climb by Don Shebib

The Critical Years by Gerald L'Ecuyer

Deaf to the City by Mireille Dansereau

Eva: Guerrillera by Jacqueline Levitin

Family Viewing by Atom Egoyan

In the Shadow of the Wind by Yves Simoneau

Juju Music by Jacques Holender

The Last Straw by Giles Walker

Life Classes by William D. MacGillivray

Le Lys cassé by André Melançon

The Secret by Leuten Rojas

Seductio by Bashar Shbib

So Many Miracles by Saul Rubinek

Taking Care by Clarke Mackey

To Hurt and to Heal by Laura Sky

Train of Dreams by John N. Smith

Too Outrageous! by Richard Benner

Undivided Attention by Chris Gallagher

A Winter Tan by Jackie Burroughs, Louise Clark, John Frizzell, John Walker and Aerlyn Weissman World Dreams by Niv Fichman

1987 Toronto International Film Festival