Visitors look at an Academy Award statuette on the day of the opening of the TIFF Bell Lightbox film complex during the 35th Toronto International Film Festival. (REUTERS/Adrien Veczan)

The Toronto International Film Festival's new home -- the TIFF Bell Lightbox at the corner of King and John streets -- has five new cinemas, plus something the city's never had before -- a space devoted to film memorabilia.

The Essential Cinema exhibit had its official opening on Sept. 12 and includes images, artifacts and artworks with a connection to some of the world's best-loved films. Among the displays on view through Oct. 23, are Robert De Niro's actual taxicab licence, the Fairchild-Curtis 160-degree lens used to produce the viewpoint of HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Claudia Cardinale's dress from The Leopard.

It's a good start, and something on which TIFF will hopefully expand. In some cities around the world, there are entire museums devoted to the subject of film. Each has a slightly different focus, but they usually draw from their particular region's unique film history. Here's a sample:

The Ghibli Museum, Japan

You don't have to be a fan of animation to be enamoured with this whimsical museum, located in Mitaka just outside of central Tokyo.

The museum is designed in the distinct style of the Ghibli studio's films, and many of their famous characters and props are here, including a life-sized robot from Castle in the Sky and the furry Cat Bus from My Neighbor Totoro. Some of the other films from this world famous Japanese animation studio include Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.

Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, who designed the Ghibli, sought to create a museum that "makes you feel more enriched when you leave than when you entered!"

There's so much that's unique and playful here, from the entrance tickets (which are exchanged for pieces of actual 35mm film prints that show a scene from a Ghibli film), to the 80-seat Saturn Theatre, where, beneath a ceiling of colourfully painted flowers, visitors can watch an original Studio Ghibli short animated feature, exclusive to the museum.

Between the first floor, which has a permanent exhibit on the history and techniques of animation, and the second floor, which houses special exhibits that change annually, are a maze spiral stairways, bridged passages and overhanging terraces.

If visitors leave with the impression that the museum was put together as if it were a film, then Miyazaki will have achieved one of his goals. Check ghibli-museum.jp/en

The London Film Museum

Along with the permanent collection, temporary exhibits ensure there's always something new to see at this interactive museum, next to the London Eye. Two weeks still remain (to Sept. 30) to see the special exhibit on Twentieth Century Fox, which celebrates the studio's 75 years of movie-making history.

Another exhibit on now till June 2011 is Ray Harryhausen -- Myths & Legends, based on the work of the 90-year-old American film producer and special effects creator.

See how Harryhausen made his films, get up close with Medusa, Pegasus and the terrifying skeleton from Jason and the Argonauts, and learn the techniques used to bring the Dynamation creatures to life.

The museum, which "celebrates all aspects of the British film industry," provides a behind the scenes look at some of the greatest films ever made.

You'll also find original props and costumes from films such as Superman, You Only Live Twice, Star Wars and Alien amongst others. A permanent exhibit: Charlie Chaplin: The Great Londoner, traces the actor's early life in the London slums, through his Hollywood career and rise to international stardom.

Check londonfilmmuseum.com.

Oregon Film Museum

A former jail seems an unlikely home for a film museum but in Oregon, it's rather fitting.

That's because the former Clatsop County Jail was the setting for the famous jailbreak scene in the 1985 movie The Goonies. The museum plays up the connection with a Goonies Gallery, including memorabilia from the movie and a Goonies Jailcam in the actual cells.

But that's just one part of the museum, whose mission is to celebrate the art and legacy of films and filmmaking in Oregon.

More than 300 films have been made in the state beginning with The Fisherman's Bride in 1908 and, in more recent decades, classics such as Animal House, Kindergarten Cop, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Something Wicked and Twilight.

In Gallery One you can see what's involved in making a major motion picture.

Ever notice titles such as "gaffer" and "best boy" in the credits? You'll learn what they, and others, do to produce your favourite flicks.

The museum has plans to add more interactive components later this year.

Soon visitors will step onto a movie set and be assigned a role in making a film -- anything from director to cinematographer! Lights, Camera, Action!

The museum is located in Astoria, Oregon. Check oregonfilmmuseum.com.

writer@interlog.com