For film lovers in Hogtown, the Toronto International Film Festival is the most wonderful time of the year.

But I wonder — is it going to stay that way?

With A-list stars like Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson, Amy Adams and more set to walk the red carpet again this year, is TIFF being pushed out of reach for regular film fans?

TIFF is the largest public film festival in the world, but with some films costing patrons $56 (that includes a $7 service charge, but not the popcorn and parking) it’s now an elitist entertainment event — right up there with the Leafs.

Not all the titles are going to set you back $56. There are $32 screenings (with that $7 service fee, natch) and the festival will offer free screenings of Pan’s Labyrinth, One-Eyed Jacks, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and more. But even $32 for a single ticket is not accessible for many Torontonians.

The first TIFF film I saw was in 1994. It was an early-morning screening of Kevin Smith’s Clerks and the price was right (less than $15, and Kevin stuck around for a Q&A afterwards).

The next two years, I volunteered. It was a great way to see the films and be part of the festival experience. For close to a decade I bought ticket packages, but once the festival instituted “premium pricing” I skipped out on many of the “special presentations” (read: celebrity-driven films).

Premium pricing exists for most of the top-end entertainment options in Toronto, whether it’s the Blue Jays (yes, you’ll have to pay more to watch them play the Red Sox this weekend than you will the Rays next week), Mirvish shows, the Leafs or the Raptors.

In fact, it’s mostly why I became a season-ticket holder to two sports teams in the city.

This year, TIFF took it a step further and introduced a new sales system through Ticketmaster and, for the first time, brought in “dynamic pricing.” The “hottest films” get more expensive when tickets are close to selling out.

“Dynamic pricing is a common practice in many arts organizations and sports,” Piers Handling, the festival’s long-time president and chief executive officer, told the Toronto Sun’s Bruce Kirkland on Thursday.

I can watch the films at press and industry screenings at TIFF for free (one of the perks of being entertainment editor). But what I miss — and what I can’t do because $56 is a lot of cheddar — is seeing a film with regular moviegoers.

“TIFF had no choice but to gradually raise ticket prices over the past few years,” Handling said. “TIFF does more than just present the latest movies on a big screen in a theatre,” he explained adding that it helps pay the costs for first-time filmmakers to come to the city.

“This is a high-end experience, clearly,” Handling continued. “So, yes, some of the ticket prices are expensive, but when I compare it to other arts organizations, I think we’re fairly close and on par.”

“Our goal is to ensure we can provide a variety of offerings to Toronto audiences,” Jennifer Bell, TIFF’s v-p of marketing and communications, added in a statement to the Sun. “In addition to our screenings, every festival we do offer a significant amount of free programming; this year’s free lineup includes Festival Street, all of our TIFF Cinematheque screenings, our Wavelengths programme and the Grolsch People’s Choice award winner screening on Sunday the 18th.”

But nothing beats that experience of seeing something like Gravity for the first time with people who are there, bound by their shared love of film.

And at the rate that TIFF is increasing its prices, I worry that possibility will be less and less of a reality.

For all of us.

Twitter: @markhdaniell

MDaniell@postmedia.com