It's the night before the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off, and you're ruing the fact that you missed the flurry of ticket sales that happened this morning and forgot to buy tickets to any screenings.

Well, fear not. Not only are there still some tickets available (I recommend checking out some of the Short Cuts Canada screenings) at the TIFF box office, but this year the Festival organizers are hosting a free screening of an award-winning film on September 13, the last night of TIFF.

The winner of the Cadillac People's Choice Award this year will be screened — absolutely free — for cinema fans in Toronto on the final night of the Festival at 9 p.m. in the Visa Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre.

The People's Choice Award is given to the film that receives the most votes by actual festival audiences, so you're sure to be watching a pretty popular (or well-received) festival film if you make it out the free screening. Be ready to be flexible, as you can never be sure if the film is going to be a drama, thriller, or comedy; past winners of the Award include 2006's Bella and last year's festival favorite and box office success Eastern Promises.

Entry to the free film are first-come, first-served, so I'd recommend getting there quite early. It's not every day that you get to catch a festival flick (or any movie, for that matter) at a cinema for free, so the theatre is expected to fill up.

For more information about the free public screening, check out the TIFF website. And be prepared for a ton of TIFF-related posts starting tomorrow on blogTO.

(Photo: "Elgin in the Rain" by Sam Javanrough.)