By Jonathan Doyle, citizen contributor

For me, a big part of TIFF's appeal has always been its ability to temporarily alter the cinematic tastes of the average Torontonian. During the rest of the year, it's not unusual for Canadian, independent or foreign language films to open and close in less than a week - if they open at all.

But for 11 short days, TIFF helps give the very same films an impressively broad appeal. Where else can you see hundreds of people lined up around the block to see an impenetrable French art film (I'm looking at you, Film Socialism) that will ultimately gross less theatrically than it did in a single night at TIFF?  

The same friends who wouldn't be caught dead in a foreign film any other time of year are suddenly scanning Craigslist for a chance to pay 40 bucks to see a dialogue-free Italian film about an old man who is reincarnated as a goat (The Four Times, easily the most original films I've seen this year at TIFF). Maybe these viewers are really just hoping for an unlikely encounter with Nathalie Portman or Edward Norton, but my suspicion is that it's a bit more complicated than that.  

During any other time of year, seeing challenging, original films makes you an outsider, but during TIFF, it's the cool thing to do. If you're really serious about cinema, chances are you're content to be an outsider all year long, but for everyone else, TIFF offers a much-needed incentive to try something new. Of course, many of the people who acquire a new-found tolerance for difficult films with subtitles - or without, in the puzzling case of Film Socialism - would probably rather be at the evening's star-studded gala, but the festival should be applauded for offering so many mind-expanding alternatives.

In a time when most popular cinema is content to recycle primitive old formulas, it's thrilling to see a large audience of filmgoers subject themselves to something so radically new. You may not always enjoy the experience, but when TIFF comes up in conversation, at least you'll have something interesting to talk about.

You can follow Jonathan throughout #TIFF10 on Twitter at @media_party