#adastiffmems

Indeed what a hangover it was.  In TIFF 2014 I pathetically caught the TIFF cold right at the start of the festival and was ship shape by the end, watching everyone else fall prey. This year I held out until the very end, then as soon as I got home from watching the People's Choice film, my nose instantly started running. Grr... I caught 29 films during TIFF 2015, the festival's 40th anniversary, plus some stuff beforehand.  I should also note that I have seen an earlier version of Into The Forrest in one of those research screenings, but I'm told there have been some significant changes made since so I cannot accurate judge the film based on my memory of it. The films I saw this year included: Pre-fest: Ninth Floor - my TFS review Brooklyn My Short Cuts program consumption wasn't so straightforward this year, TIFF combined Canadian and International shorts and Toronto Film Scene was only committed to covering the Canadian shorts programming.  What this means is that I probably watched just over a third of the Canadian Shorts spread out through all the SC programs.  In short, follow this link for my capsule reviews and director interviews. During the festival: Hitchcock/Truffaut Te Prometo Anarquia (I Promise Anarchy) Demolition Lolo Girls Lost Maggie's Plan Anomalisa The Danish Girl Heat Women He's Undressed The Man Who Knew Infinity The Dressmaker Being Charlie Zoom Victoria Baskin The Steps The Family Fang Northern Soul Ville-Marie Stonewall Keeper I Smile Back Legend The Paradise Suite Mr Right Vertigo Der Nachtmahr Room Everyone seems to be weighing in with their top 5, for me it was more like 3 standouts, and then 5 other films I would still highly recommend: Standouts: 1) Northern Soul 2) The Danish Girl 3) Zoom Also highly recommended:

Women He's Undressed 

Demolition

Lolo

The Dressmaker

Mr. Right

Beyond that the remainder of the programming that I personally saw was of high standards this year. I would recommend 21 out of the 31 features I saw, and even then, some of the un-recommended 10 are in reality ok...

Zoom is three tales woven together in a story about a story about a story, presented in the mix of live action and animation.  It's got lots of wiry, dark humour, and of course, sex dolls. A Canadian/Brazillian co-production that I caught at the end of a 5-film day that managed to keep me awake and laughing throughout.

The Danish Girl will surely be an oscar contender for something. I personally hope it's best actress (best supporting actress?) for Alicia Vikander, she was definitely the standout even opposite a powerhouse like Eddie Redmayne in a skillfully crafted film.  This is my new favourite Tom Hooper film, granted I don't normally consider myself a fan, I cannot deny the merits of The King's Speech and even Les Mis had its highlights.

That said, I will admit it's far from perfect.  I've heard a couple people remark on the story unfolding at breakneck speed, leaving the audience detached from the characters never having properly taken the time to understand who their are and their inner workings. I agree it's a lot of story to cover, but this takes me back to a discussion I had at this year's TIFF overnight line with my friends Jae and Sachin about the importance of story vs character in the making of a film...

Jae admires a director's ability to recognize when a character has become larger than just the story he's in, and to follow that character down a path even if it deviates from the original intended plot.  It's important to be able to shift focus and take your audience on that exploration. (Jae, apologies if I'm way off your original point, but this is what I took away in my sleep deprivation) Whereas I'm more focused on the story, I'm willing to overlook a few character deviations, ie. silly out-of-character actions, if it means the story hits all the major plot points and gets to where it needs to be.

Anyway, this is how I felt about The Danish Girl.  I can live with the amount of story they pack into the film's running time (though it could've easily been another half an hour longer and it would have been just fine), I can take a leap of faith in both Lily and Gerda's evolving relationship and how they come to terms with it.  If anything, my hesitation towards The Danish Girl is that it chronicles the life of a transgendered individual from a privileged class, Lily obviously had the wealth and means to undergo treatments, surgery, and seek sanctuary from those who would scrutinize her behaviour.  What of those who did not come from wealth and fortune? 

This is a slight deviation from my discussion of my standout films, but my thoughts in the previous paragraph make me think about Stonewall, which focuses on a similar minority (albeit decades later), that is getting ALL the criticism.  Ok fine, having seen Stonewall as well, it rightly deserves a good portion of the backlash it's getting.  Not being overly familiar with neither The Stonewall Riots, nor the life of Lily Elbe, I can't say for certain... but I'm guessing The Danish Girl more closely chronicles the life of Lily vs Stonewall which is a fictitious story played out against the background of the events in New York City.

I've read a couple articles lashing out against the film Stonewall.  Should the golden boy quarterback from middle America have been portrayed as the hero of rebellion?... heck no, but it's one of those things that many may have dismissed or written off it wasn't presented in conjunction with a number of characters whom they claim are based on real people who participated in the events... that gives the illusion that our fictional hero is real too. Some of Emmerich's remarks about using that character to give mainstream audiences someone they could relate to is unsettling as well.  A strong story with good characters shouldn't need a draw, it should stand by itself and compel those who previously had no connection to the subject.  Or is that only my definition of good filmmaking?

And it is within those same parameters that Northern Soul (you see what I did there? ;) ) was my standout film of TIFF 2015.  Also a fictitious story, this time set in Northern English against the backdrop of the underground soul music scene, Northern Soul feels genuine and intimate.  It hits a few cliche notes and doesn't delve into the tough topics, the accents are challenging to say the least, but the infectious spirit of the movie never makes you consider tuning out even for a second. Perhaps I have a bit of a soft spot for underground music movements, but it was a movement I knew nothing about until I saw the film, despite always having favoured faster tempo soul music.  Northern Soul also struck me a precursor for other scenes such as New Wave, Indie Rock, and Rave (real rave, not Zac Efron DJ bullshit)  Makes me want to re-watch 24 Hour Party People, and last year's Eden. Seeing director Elaine Constantine take the stage afterwards for the Q&A confirmed that was made by someone who was familiar with the films characters and setting. (I have a video of that Q&A that I will try to upload to my YouTube) Another thing to note about what makes a successful film within this niche is that the good ones always place the greatest emphasis on friendship instead of politics, romance, or something else.  In tightknit communities such as these, connections are made from the music and the friendships, choosing to base it on anything else I think will make it harder to win over audiences. Speaking of friendships (I'm just full of segues!) I cannot to a TIFF hangover post without mentioning all the random run-ins and movies I unexpectedly saw with friends over TIFF 40.  I tried my best to get photos with all my old friends as I ran into them (some more closely resemble shadows of my good friends as they were taken in darkened theatres) I'm grateful to my readers for indulging me during the month of August and all my random festival memories.  I actually have a story from this year that I think will go down in the #AdaTIFFmems history books, we'll know for sure in the years to come... It was only day 1 or 2 but as volunteers we already had access to some special screenings, including one to Julie Delphy's film Lolo (great film btw).  My generous friend Paul got a ticket to that show that he couldn't use, so he messaged me after he got home from his volunteer shift to see if I wanted it.  I already had a ticket but knew a couple others who were interested.  The challenge quickly became how to get the ticket from Paul as it was closing in on 1am and Paul was off to work and me to a film first thing in the morning.  We came up with the great idea for Paul to stash the ticket in his mailbox so that I, or anyone else, could grab it at any point before the film. I didn't have any luck waking the first person, but just earlier had gotten a message from my TIFF-partner-in-crime (one of a few partners in crime I guess) Jerry F. that he was at Midnight Madness so I knew he was around. I was ready to climb in bed at this point, so my message to him said something along the lines of "If ur interested in a ticket to 11am screening of Lolo tomorrow, go to ### Jarvis St, and look for a ticket in the mailbox inside a supermarket flyer" I love how Jerry doesn't question why there's a movie ticket stuffed inside a random mailbox in the middle of the night, his response after getting out of the theatre was simply "ok, heading there now" lol.  I was asleep or half asleep for the remainder of the events, but from what he tells me, he went and grabbed a bikeshare and went up to Paul's.  First he couldn't find the townhouses, then he couldn't find Paul's mailbox.  He didn't see a ticket in the mailbox but saw some supermarket flyers sitting nearby so he leafed through all of those too (haha) before sending me several text messages that woke me up enough to go message Paul. Paul confirmed that he put the ticket in the mailbox after a short while, during which time Jerry had biked back to his car in another part of downtown. So Jerry drove up to Paul's again and finally got the elusive ticket.  He shared the entire story of his middle of the night scavenger hunt with me the next day at the Elgin where I nearly died from laughter.  Just another one of those things that happen during TIFF... I'll leave you with some of my favourite photos from TIFF 2015:

The one where I'm two feet away from Geoffrey Rush!

My longtime friends Judith & Sue

My beloved #teamElign and #teamWG (Winter Garden) in our annual group photo

Christopher & I - friends for 26 years!

Random good looking people that I count amongst my friends (Irene, Christopher, Vincent, James, Davor) 

The Danish Girl Q&A with acclaimed director Tom Hooper

Jerry #1 (aka the 'TIFF husband' aka guy who went on the middle of the night ticket hunt) & I

The worse-lit photo in existence of Jerry #2 (aka my 'favourite stalker' - he's ok with this nickname for the record lol) and I

[pause for story:  I shared my google calendar with my schedule of films with Jerry and he accidentally merged it with his own film schedule, leaving him very confused...and very knowledgeable about my whereabouts lol]

Getting in the shot with two of my favourite ladies whom I work with the Orientation Sessions - Shaista & Lina

I have been waiting and waiting (and procrastinating... and not having my photos handy) to write this installment!  And now I'm just late with it! So over the last 40 (41) days I've been sifting through old blogs, journals, photos, etc., sharing with friends and strangers alike some of my fondest TIFF-related memories, including zany things we've done, great films I've seen, and wonderful people I've met. I have mentioned the gentleman featured in today's blog here and there, but I think it's time to put him in the spotlight... In the mid-00's a young guy started volunteering at the Elgin. I knew him as Jonathan at first, Jon for a brief period of time, but of course the name in which he established his legacy is Jonny...

He was a volunteer on my team, a real superstar that we could trust to do a great job where ever we placed him.  Always willing to take one for the team, together we've shouted at line-ups until we lost our voices, fended off the hoardes pushing towards the red carpet, and diffused many a crisis in between. It wasn't all volunteer business, Jonny and I actually became friends.  He was a friendly face year after year, coming in at recruitment sessions and into the Elgin volunteer lounge all smiles.  He'd tell me about a new exciting marketing job he'd just got, or introduce me to a new volunteer he'd convinced to join the Elgin team (that being my buddy Jack - the guy behind Jonny in the photo above, I believe they went to college together).  We'd get up to no good at Midnight Madness screenings (Jonny's king of the Rockstar energy drinks!) and party together at TIFF events. After some years as a regular volunteer, Jonny finally made the leap to captaining and never looked back!

Captain Group Photo from 2011.  Truly one of my favourite Elgin/WG captain teams.

As a volunteer captain, he was a continued pleasure to work with.  I could always trust him to have my back, and I knew for certain the volunteers were having a good time under his command.  During this time Jonny also met and began dating one of the FOHAs of the theatre.

Flash foward to the next festival and Jonny tells me he's now officially staff at the Elgin!  I'm always a little conflicted when my beloved co-captains make the leap.  I'm happy for them, and love the idea of having staff in the venue that truly understand the volunteer experience.  But at the same time I feel I'm losing them to "the other side", and know that we won't be spending as much time together going forward.

I couldn't begrudge Jonny though... I'd been working with ticket line/inside rep Mathias for 13? 14?? festivals (we started at the Elgin the same year) and he'd become truly one of the greatest people to work with, I didn't think the inside volunteers could ever have such a great person to work with again... until I saw Jonny in action during TIFF14 as the new inside rep.  It honestly made me want to be a regular inside volunteer, just so I could work on a team with Jonny again.

This year Jonny's returning as the daytime head rep of the Elgin and I couldn't be happier for him, he's going to rock it like he does everything else.  Oh, and little lady he met at the Elgin, did I mention they got engaged???

Everything's coming up Jonny!  Here's to you my friend :)

Candy, Jonny, and I at a TIFF Party (Elgin party?)

MM line-up antics abound.

This one is definitely an Elgin party... I love how Jonny's hair changes from year to year.

More Elgin party antics (to the left of Jonny would be our night time Head Rep, the vivacious David Tomlinson)

Holy smokes I can't believe TIFF 15 is here!  I'm still catching on #AdaTIFFmems, so I best not waste time!... Most of the time TIFF is about seeing the latest and the greatest. Catching stuff you may never see again, and things that may never get a theatrical release. But once in a while it goes the other way too.

Ashes of Time was originally released in 1994, the only period film ever made by Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai, who is better known for his retro nostalgia and dramatic philosophical tales of romance and unrequited love.

I count Ashes of Time among my favourite films, but because of the timing of its original release (a period when very little Chinese cinema was made available theatrically in Toronto, especially for a 15 year old to access) I had only ever seen it on murky VHS tapes and their DVD counterparts (literally a VHS copy dubbed into a DVD disc - that cost me $50 on Amazon!!!).

The reason for such poor quality releases was because no one had a decent copy of the film, not the studio, not the director, no one. But at the dawn of the digital video age, restorations became a trend and soon Ashes of Time was among those on the list for a revamp. And so they began searching old movie houses world-wide for all the missing bits of footage, and began a lengthy restoration of the materials they did have.

The most exciting moment came when it was announced Wong Kar Wai would be presenting a restored version - called Ashes of Time Redux - of his period epic featuring new music by Yo Yo Ma at TIFF 2008!

Wong Kar Wai came to Toronto that year, my friend Darrin was volunteering at the airport when he came in, alas Darrin (whose greatest advice for TIFF-going always includes "represent the Asians!")  was not the one who got to escort the famed director. This was during the early years of SMS and a time when Blackberry was king, but I remember Darrin messaging me while I was at the Elgin with updates about the whereabouts of one of my favourite directors.

I owe you guys a few #AdaTIFFmems...at least one of them will be a cop-out, and this one most certainly will be!

As if there weren't already enough overnight line stories, I can offer you nothing but more today.

This past weekend was another fun demonstration of teamwork at its best. I'm still not loving lining up on King Street however separating out the volunteers usually means that we are amongst friends. We're happy to look out for each other's things take turns stepping away from line, even keeping each other nourished. 

We joked that the TIFF diet began that day, surely it had nothing to do with the brownies courtesy of Adam, the ice cream I bought, Poutine, nor the burgers.

The return of Sachin & Jae (missed you guys) to the line meant stimulating conversation topics such as 'bad movies that you happen to like and have to defend often', Marvel vs DC (Eddy where were you??), how to make a crêpe cake (that's a new one, we must be getting old), and my favorite: 'Encino Man vs Star Trek 2'.  These are important things.

Another tradition relived: I was dozing off some time after 3am and awoke momentarily to find Jay sitting in front of me, as if waiting for me to open my eyes, so he could tell me about the relevance of numerology in his life (something I turned him onto in high school and then quickly abandoned my own interest... oddly this has become a bit of a standard conversation for us).

When I was younger I posted about staying up all night in line.  Nowadays... let's face it, I'm trying to get in three hours of sleep (even though it wound up only being two.)

Not everyone is psycho like us spending the greater part of the day in the lineup on the street, many show up in the wee hours of the morning. So when I woke at 6am, many friendly faces had passed by and later commented they saw me as they went by, but didn't say hello as I was sleeping. This is why so many of my TIFF friends are my closest friends, they have seen me at my worst a.k.a. slumped over drooling with hair stuck to my face.

I also woke to find coffee waiting for me (thanks Rosie), and I had the foresight to pick up Nutella croissants the previous night so I'd have some breakfast to share.

I learned that during my sleep, someone had arrived with a large box of McDonald's burgers. Tremendously kind gesture? Yes. Unheard of from the wonderful volunteers and other patrons of TIFF? No (that is how awesome we can be to friends and strangers alike!) Then it was time to get our tickets, a particularly tense hour as we counted down the minutes to the box office opening, the scary moment of truth to see if our picks would be available, and of course, the inevitable site crash/issues that the box office encounters almost every year due to the high demands on the site (I get that there are technological limitations, and that TIFF is a non-profit, etc etc... but it'll always be nerve wracking) After that... the crash. It's Sunday morning by that point but part of your brain still thinks it's Saturday, you want to sleep, but not too much, lest you not sleep at all Sunday night and the vicious cycle continues.  I was in a hazy state, in and out of consciousness until Monday.  By then I was pretty confused about what day it was, but at least I was a functioning human being again. Many of us who line up are not just getting tickets for ourselves, we'll help a close friend or two out. So Monday is usually the day when I get my huge stack of tickets sorted out. Despite the line-up being over, the teamwork doesn't end there. Now that we have our first round of tickets, it's time to figure out how to use the vouchers we didn't exchange, or even whether to exchange the tickets we do have!  Around this time the texts start to fly... "are you going to the box office?"  "Did you hear The Lobster is back on sale?" (No, despite the hype, The Lobster still hasn't made it onto my list)  "I know someone who's going to the box office now, would you like me to ask them to grab a ticket?" etc etc. This type of box office coordination will extend through the festival amongst my friends, as well as the "I can hold a spot for you in the rush line" offers.  Knowing that my network of savvy TIFF-goers abound and that I will soon get a chance to hang out with all of them (even if our idea of "hanging out" is a little different from the fest of the world) is what keeps me hyped and coming back to TIFF year after year.

Despite having slept in 2-3 hour periods over the last day, I'm dimly aware another day has passed on the calendar and thus another #AdaTIFFmem

This story isn't mine but it's a funny one and one we still tell at the Elgin from time to time.

One of the most star studded nights we've had at the theatre was the premiere of The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford.  My ever-inappropriate friend Jae dubbed it "The Ass of JJ" during movie schedule planning and it stuck with a few of us, I had to make a conscious effort to use the film's full title while onsite at the theatre.

The movie starred some guy named Brad Pitt, whose friends from some film called Ocean's Eleven (a number of which were in town with their own movies) all came to show their support...

This was one of the first times Yonge Street was fully barricaded, with everything secured, a number of us were called into the lobby to help with crowd control.  So we were truly security detail for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.  Oh yeah, did I mention she came too?

We often open the house before the talent arrives, it helps clear up pedestrian gridlock on Yonge Street and that way the line doesn't stop as fans all try to get a glimpse of the celebs on the red carpet.  But when the stars are too famous, it doesn't really matter where you put the patrons, they're gonna find a way to get close to the action.  

People who had gone into the theatre already were finding excuses to make their way back out into the lobby, many of us had to repeated ask them to stay behind the stanchions and/or move along. Despite our best efforts, we were dealing with significantly narrowed walkways.

Captain Mel and Candy were also onsite that day (on shift but I was the captain), I had the crowd on one side of the lobby, they were on the other.  Celebs that wound up coming right by us included Don Cheadle and Matt Damon in a touching reunion moment where the two men came up to each other for a hug (3 feet from me!), Angelina Jolie who was all smiles while signing an autograph near us, telling the girl she was enjoying being in Toronto, along with Helen Hunt and Eric Bana.

Celebs that were also in the building that day, but I didn't see, included Casey Affleck, Clive Owen, Josh Brolin, and Rose McGowan.  I don't quite recall, but George Clooney may or may not have also snuck in through the back on this day as well. The only person I really spoke with was Maria Menounos.

Ok, I can't let this 40 day trip down festival memory lane go by with an entry on Sasha.

Most of my friends probably know Sasha through me (or maybe Mel...), but I actually met her during my early years with TIFF. Sasha volunteered for a variety of things, but I remember her best from the Sprockets (now TIFF Kids) recruitment sessions.  Perhaps it was because the group of helpers was smaller, or there were fewer people signing up and more opportunities to talk, but the bulk of the conversations I had with Sasha, her sister Sonya, and our mutual friend Valesca (same girl who was with me for the Don McKellar incident lol) were during these early springtime sessions. Sasha was a huge documentary fan, another early memory I have of her is running into her and Valesca in Yorkville during Hot Docs time, and Sasha was trying to convince me to come along to see Murderball with them.  I declined that day, but of course after seeing the doc later on, wished that I had gone to the screening as Sasha suggested. Even after I stopped seeing Sasha around TIFF (I say this, but in actual fact, even after she wasn't really volunteering, she would still join us for screenings and mysteriously appear at our parties lol) we continued to keep in touch (thanks social media!) In the late 00's I organized a weekly pick-up ultimate frisbee group and one Monday Sasha walked onto the field! She continued to come out to frisbee and would join us at various social events - trust me when I say back then there were a LOT of social events. There are many things I admire about Sasha, some things that I always admired and some things that I came to understand and admire as I got a little older. Being independent, financially secure, and confident afforded Sasha many freedoms, something that I continually looked up to her for.  Sasha would appear at events with us as she pleased, never making excuses why she could or could not be somewhere.  She loved to shop and travel (a girl after my own heart), one time booking a last minute trip halfway around the world... I was heading to Hong Kong to see some family and she surprised me by telling me she was also going to be there around the same time.  I regret that we were not able to meet up during that trip, I remember phoning her at her hotel in Hong Kong, where she told me about purchasing gold sneakers and having a traditional Chinese dress custom-made. Another favourite memory was the long chain of text messages we changed trying to figure out the best way for her to pack her Jimmy Choo shoes on a trip to Italy. When I was in my 20's I often felt like if I left a party too early I would miss out on something, Sasha never felt this way.  If she wanted to she leave, she left.  She had better things to do with her time.  This, and not feeling obliged to provide lengthy apologies and excuses for missing a dinner/get-together/etc. are two things I've only learned in recent years and so my respect for Sasha only grows with the years. Sasha was the same age as I am now when she passed away from cancer, her family, loved ones, and friends miss her dearly and keep her alive through our fondest memories.  She is in my thoughts within and outside of TIFF, though without the festival I would have never gotten to know her and so this is yet another huge reason I'm indebted to the festival. After her passing, a group of us decided to celebrate Sasha's memory and her love of film by having a chair in the TIFF Bell Lightbox building dedicated to her.  So during TIFF 15 if you find yourself catching a movie in Cinema 1, Row H, seat 13, check the back of it for a memorial plaque in memory of my dear friend.

Captain Chris and Sasha, I believe at the Food & Wine show

Sasha and Darrin

Sasha and I (judging from my hair colour, this is probably around 2006)

Run-in during TIFF with Sasha, Valesca, and I

At a TIFF party with Sasha (2008?)

Celeb moments come big and small at TIFF, but that "big" vs "small" can also be subjective depending on the person and which star they're coming in close proximity to.

I've mentioned some of the A-listers I've come in contact with, and I'm not going to lie, standing six feet away from Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt is awfully exciting. But a celebrity that isn't on the front page of every tabloid can certainly make your day/week/festival too.

In 2012 Joss Whedon brought his stylish vision of Much Ado About Nothing to the festival and the Whedon-verse cast with him.  I consider myself a Joss Whedon fan though I cannot claim to have seen everything he's made.

One of the screenings of the film was at the Elgin on an afternoon that I happened to be captaining.  So like an exemplary volunteer, I stood back and calmly watched as Mr. Whedon came along the sidewalk from the north side and signed autographs before meeting up with the rest of his cast of regulars on the red carpet. When the opportunity arose later, I also ducked into the theatre to catch a bit of the fantastic Q&A (hey, it's a Shakespeare play, it's not like there will be many spoilers).  It was like a classed up version of a con panel! The real fan girl opportunities came a few days later when my friend Mara and I went to attend a repeat screening at the Isabel Bader theatre. Now with 2nd and 3rd screenings, filmmakers and cast are not guaranteed, we had no idea who was going to show. Still, I was excited to see the movie and I don't think I could've chosen a better companion to see a Joss Whedon movie with (and if you knew how many Whedon fans I'm friends with...) Mara is such a huge fan that she named her dog after Joss. We were near the front of the ticketholders line when Whedon once again just came walking up along the sidewalk...

Mara got a chance to talk to him while I snapped dozens of badly framed photos.

The film once again included an intro from Whedon.

and a Q&A with the full cast (minus Nathan Fillion this time)

Tom Lenk and Alexis Denisof

After which some of the cast wandered outside the Bader to sign more autographs, take picks, and chat with the fans!

Got Alexis Denisof's autograph...

...and a photo with Tom Lenk