TIFF time

Ah TIFF...the week or so of entertainment that bridges me from the melancholy of the end of summer to the new fall television season.

As I mentioned, I was lucky enough to get tickets for 9 of the 10 films I had selected on my pre-order form. I was in box 30 of 78 for the annual lottery mess and they started filling orders with box 9 so I guess I did ok by being in the first third.

My screenings this year are heavily weighted to the 'Special Presentations' programme which seems to have experienced a growth spurt since last year. And other than a couple more 'indie' productions and one documentary, most of them are set to open before the end of the year. For anyone who's interested...here's how I ended up with my film list:

I picked up the giant program book (with all the rest of the folks in line) on Tuesday August 26th. Then I sat at my desk and flipped through the pages pretty quickly and marked all the movies that hit one of two criteria:

1. Was the director or one of the stars someone who I particularly liked
2. Did the title and/or quick perusal of the description grab my attention

Then - as the spreadsheet queen I am - I take all those those movies and throw all the data into excel along with the venues, dates and showtimes for each film. One pivot table later and I have a summary by day, venue and block of time (morning, afternoon or evening) of all the movies I'd be interested in seeing. After that it's all about picking one movie within each block, which is done by asking myself:

1. Is there anything in that block that falls under my 'absolutely must see' list?
2. Is it playing at the Ryerson (my fav venue)?
3. What is the likelihood of anyone associated with the film showing up for a Q&A (one of my fav parts of the festival)?
4. Is there something I wouldn't get a chance to see anywere else?
5. If I haven't picked one by now...maybe 'eeny, meeny, miney moe'? I've never faced the problem :-)

Then I fill out the advance order book. I only put in the request for my first choices and don't provide second alternatives (as you are able to do). I figure I'm only looking for 10 tickets (unlike some festival goers who see 30+ films) and it's easy enough to try to rearrange afterwards.

And after all that, I end up with my package of tickets which for the most part I stick with, though I've exchanged a ticket, picked up extras and missed a screening in the past. Here's where I'm going to be over the next 10 days...maybe I'll see you in line.

TIFF'08 Screenings

1. Me and Orson Welles (Ryerson)
2. Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist (Ryerson)
3. Zack & Miri make a Porno (Ryerson)
4. Other Man (Ryerson)
5. Religulous (Winter Garden)
6. Gigantic (Isabel Bader)
7. Synecdoche (Winter Garden)
8. Uncertainty (AMC)
9. Every Little Step (AMC)
10. Genova (Ryerson)