People enter the Bell Lightbox, one of the festival's new venues this year. (Submitted by Roger Rousseau)

By Roger Rousseau, citizen contributor

The TIFF Bell Lightbox opened its doors to the public on Sunday for an inaugural open house celebration. Outside, there was live entertainment -- with K'Naan as the headlining act -- as well as an assortment of food and activities for the whole family. Inside, an array of video installations, film screenings and exhibits were on display for free to the public.

When I arrived at around 11:30 a.m., a crowd had already gathered around the front entrance where the ribbon cutting ceremony was to occur. There were plenty of onlookers and cameras blocking my view. A line had already formed along the front of the Lightbox for people wanting to enter immediately after the ceremony. TIFF volunteers kindly informed everyone joining the line that the Lightbox could hold 2,000 people, that everyone who wanted to enter could do so at any point in the day, and that if we wanted to watch the ribbon cutting instead, we could do so without worry of being left outside. Few people went along with the suggestion and instead joined the line. Like me, they were eager to see the guts of the place, not the requisite pomp and ceremony that accompany such occasions.

Upon first entering the lobby, my attention was pulled towards a group of reporters crowded around Piers Handling and Jason Reitman. My first instinct was to snap some pictures. "No! Look at the building. Find the theatres. Move on. Move on!" Was that a TIFF volunteer yelling at me? A quick glance revealed only welcoming, happy faces. This confirmed to me that it was in fact my own inner voice urging me on.

I took a quick look around the bright, spacious lobby, noting the presence of the box office and gift shop. Feeling anxious to see the rest of the building, I promptly continued up to the second floor. What followed was a frantic, haphazard exploration of the building. I zipped from theatre to theatre, room to room, floor to floor, attempting to see everything that could be seen, and photograph everything that could be photographed (see the set on Flickr). I make the distinction because not everything that could be seen could be photographed, at least not without getting into trouble with the Lightbox staff. And to my dismay, there were areas that were not yet ready for public viewing, such as the Film Reference Library on the fourth floor. Overall, the Lightbox lived up to my expectations, and in some cases even exceeded them.

Here are some of the highlights within the building, and of what was going on there on Sunday:

The theatres. The three main theatres (on the second floor) are comparable in size and comfort to those of modern multiplexes (the largest cinema has 549 seats). The stadium seating is a vast contrast to the TIFF Cinematheque's former home in the AGO's Jackman Hall. And, unlike the old digs, you can buy snacks at the large concession stand. Oh, and one of the theatres has a 70-mm film projector!

Two of the theatres were screening films commissioned for the opening: one on the history of TIFF, and the other containing clips from the Essential 100 list. Both were quite short, and honestly felt like filler. However, the other theatre was screening the Preludes short films that were commissioned for TIFF's 25th anniversary. I hadn't seen all of these during the festival in 2000, so it was great to watch several of them back to back (David Cronenberg's Camera is still my favourite).

Learning spaces. The third floor holds three learning studios and two small theatres. These will be great spaces for lectures and workshops, and hopefully they will be affordable and accessible to young and emerging filmmakers. I envision a lot of great ideas germinating and blossoming within those rooms.

During the opening, there were a couple of video installations on display in the studios, but nothing that wowed me. One of the theatres on that floor did contain an impressive installation, Atom Egoyan's 8 Screens. The website doesn't indicate how long the installation will run for, but it is well worth checking out.

The Gallery. Visiting the gallery was the absolute highlight of my day. Located on the first floor of the Lightbox, the gallery currently houses the Essential Cinema exhibition. This collection of images and objects from the films on the Essential 100 list is impressive. The pieces on display do not just represent great works of cinema, but are themselves great works of art. And, 24 Hour Psycho Back and Forth and To and Fro, which is on display in the gallery annex, was mesmerizing. I must have stood there 10 minutes or more, watching the frames slowly flick by. I don't think it made much of an impression on anyone else though, as people tended to enter and leave rather quickly.

Family atmosphere. I was surprised to see so many families about. I'm not sure the kids knew exactly what they were there for, or what the big deal was, but it was nice to see that the day was being turned into a family experience. One of my favourite parts of the day was, while watching the Preludes shorts, overhearing a child tell his parents "OK, only one more and then we go."

A glance at the upcoming fall schedule revealed that the Cinematheque will include a lot of activities and programming for children. TIFF clearly has an eye on educating the cinephiles of tomorrow.

So, what do you think about the Lightbox? Please share your thoughts and stories about Sunday's opening below.

You can follow Roger throughout #TIFF10 at @roger_writes