Lightbox tour, pt.2

Yesterday, we posted snapshots from the Lightbox opening day including the first and second floors, and three largest theatres. As we were guests (without press passes), we refrained from taking pictures of any of the exhibits, installations, or films on display. However, UrbanToronto did a splendid job capturing many of these...

• Hauntings I, Guy Maddin – 11 projections that recreate fragments of lost or unrealized film masterpieces.
  
  
  
• Essential Cinema Gallery – exhibition of objects, posters, and photographs from the Essential 100 films.
  
  
  
• 8½ Screens, Atom Egoyan – reverses the relationship between projector, audience and screen, by remixing a scene from Federico Fellini’s 8½. [Cinema 4]
  

• E-100, James Andean & François Xavier Saint-Pierre – a sound installation of samples from the films on the Essential 100 list. [Cinema 5; w/retractable seating]

• In Love For The Mood, Ming Wong – inspired by Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love.
  +
  Eat Fear, Ming Wong – inspired by Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.
  
  
• TIFF@35 – posters from the Toronto International Film Festival's 35 years, inside the Canadian Film Gallery.

We were fortunate enough to visit the new Bell Blue Room (now a donor-only lounge)...



...and we were also able to spend some time on the roof-top terrace – still under construction; opening in the fall...


[the roof-top is reminiscent of Casa Malaparte, in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt]

Finally, back to UrbanToronto for some spectacular photography of the building itself...



See you at the next fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS.
Here's part one of the Lightbox tour.

Lightbox tour

The new Lightbox centre has been under construction for over three years. Although we were able to visit the two new restaurants inside, before it's completion (O&B Canteen and Luma), Lightbox officially opened on Sunday, September 12th. We were very happy to take part in an advance tour, followed by a celebration of the film festival's 35th anniversary.

Here are some snapshots...
[click on any image to see a larger version]

[cinema seats by Quinette Gallay; cake by Madeleines]

The new facility earned some mentions in the American press...

• Festivals Grow Up, New York Times
• Toronto Film Festival's new home, Chicago Tribune
  
• Toronto gets a film & arts museum, Los Angeles Times
  

– and here are some highlights from local sources...

• TIFF Bell Lightbox took centre-stage
• Exploration of TIFF Bell Lightbox
  


• 
  


• 
  

If you haven't visited Lightbox yet — see what's playing, check out free exhibits, grab a bite, or have dinner — it's the destination for cinema in the city.

See you at the next fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS.
K'naan was in concert for the Lightbox opening, at King & John — here's his wrap-up performance of Wavin' Flag...



PPS.
Update/cont'd: Lightbox tour, pt.2

Our top ten from the 2010 film fest

Every year we try to come up with a 'top-ten', chosen from the films we saw at the festival. (We see at least 20 films during the fest though – enough to warrant a week of vacation, but not too many to feel like work... ;-)

[In fact, TOfilmfest began as an email of our top picks, circulated among friends in the late 90's — which then grew into a mailing-list... and then evolved into a website!]

We use a simple criteria — which films would we be most eager to see again? ...so, for what it's worth, here's our 2010 Toronto International Film Festival top ten:

He said,

1. Brownian Movement
2. Leap Year
3. Jaloux
4. Confessions
5. The Sleeping Beauty
6. Erotic Man
7. Blue Valentine
8. Buried
9. Submarine
10. Sensation

She said,

1. Blue Valentine
2. I Am Slave
3. Wasted On the Young
4. Confessions
5. Brownian Movement
6. Submarine
7. Buried
8. As If I'm Not There
9. Special Treatment
10. Jaloux

Agreed...



See you at the next fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

2010 Lightbox promo song

For the past 4 years now, the film festival's annual promotional ads, for the new Lightbox centre, have included music from Canadian artists.

Here's a re-cap of the songs so far, including the new one:

• 
  "Hold Your Secrets To Your Heart" by Miracle Fortress — from the 2007 album 'Five Roses' – shortlisted for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.
  


• 
  "Light You Up" by Pilot Speed — from the 2009 album 'Wooden Bones' – performed at Yonge-Dundas Square on September 18, 2009 as part of the film festival's free concert line-up.
  


• 
  "Luscious Life" by Patrick Watson — from the 2008 album 'Close To Paradise' – the 2007 Polaris Music Prize winner.


• 
  "I Feel It All" by Feist — from the 2007 album 'The Reminder' – shortlisted for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.

Click on the song title, or album cover, to download to a sample MP3... — and credit to TIFFtalk and @LeoraHeilbronn for identifying the songs! :-)

Pick the best of the fest,
#TOfilmfest

Tale of three schedules

Shortly after the complete official film festival schedule was released, we provided some advice on scheduling your films.

In preparation for our first film of the festival tomorrow, we tried three different online tools for creating a personalized printed schedule:

• tiff.net
  1. click Login|Register
  2. click Register Now
  3. enter Email, Name, Password
  4. click Register
  5. browse films by title, or date
     
  6. click Add to mySchedule (next to any film screening time)
  7. click mySchedule, to view your schedule
  8. click Export your schedule, to save a .CSV file
     — no way to print, or share, your schedule... :-(


• tiffr
  1. click join tiffr
  2. enter username, email, password
  3. click join tiffr again
  4. there are no films listed on the website,
     instead you must install a 'bookmarklet'
     on your browser's bookmark toolbar
  5. then, browse the official website for a film, and
     
  6. click the Shortlist on tiffr 'bookmarklet' button
     – while viewing the official website for the film
  7. click shortlist to see your list of shortlisted films
  8. click schedule to view schedule (now empty)
     
  9. click view festival planner to see screenings
  10. click ADD on screening to add to schedule
  11. click again on schedule to view schedule
  12. print, share, or export to Apple's iCal
      — no way to export to Google calendar... :-/


• tiffReviews
  1. first, visit google.com/calendar
  2. if you have a Google account, enter your email & password; if not, click Create an account (free)
     
  3. next, visit tiffReviews.com
  4. click FILM LIST (no need to login)
     
  5. browse films by title
     
  6. click Google calendar button beside screening time
  7. click Save in Google calendar
  8. print, or share, using Google calendar,
     — also works with Apple's iCal, too... :-)
     

Since the official film festival website is often unreachable during critical times of film selection and scheduling — both tiff.net's and tiffr's online tools cannot be recommended. Using tiffReview's schedule links – which work well with iPhones (iCal), and Android phones (Google Calendar) – seems the only reliable choice.

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS. individual tickets for the film fest are still available!

• Online (Visa only)
• By Phone, 7am-7pm
  at 416-968-3456 (or, 877-968-3456)
• Box-office, King+Peter, 7am-7pm