TOfilmfest selection process

Last year we did the Maryland Film Festival, and recently one of our friends (film-producer and festival-programmer), who's heading up from Baltimore for TIFF'14, asked:

• What movies are you looking forward to seeing the most and WHY?
  Is it the director, screening location, time of day, running time, time of week, better popcorn? What goes into everyone's selection process?

It's a great question, because the Toronto International Film Fest is a "no-time-to-eat-or-breathe" festival. It's just not possible to see more than a fraction of the 400+ films screening over 11 days — and it's especially challenging, from a scheduling perspective, because there are often 20+ films screening at the same time!



So, for what it's worth, these are some of the things we consider when selecting our screenings:

• Director/Actor/Actress – if you've followed and enjoyed the work of a particular director or actor/actress, you'll likely want to see their latest film
• Countries & Languages – if you want to visit another place in the world, be immersed into another language and culture, cinema makes it easy to travel the world
• Classification – although some movies may be intended for a younger audience, any film without an official OFRB rating will be restricted to adults 18+
• Release dates – some may want to be the first to see a new film, but we generally avoid films that have a theatrical release already set for the fall

• Ticket prices – with advance ticket package prices up 28% this year, and $46 'premium' screenings appearing across many different programs, it's important to consider whether your choices are likely to be worth the expense
• Star-rated reviews – many films that have screened previously have been reviewed by critics, so it's wise to check (although, it's possible that whatever earned a film a rave-review, may cause you to avoid it; likewise a damning review might cite something that compels you to want to see it for yourself)
• Location – certainly some cinemas are better than others, but it's not a factor for us (we still believe it's better to watch a great film in vintage-seats, than some movie you'll soon forget, in comfortable/modern ones)
• Timing – it's definitely advisable to plan most of your screenings within a reasonable walking radius, and give yourself ample time to get in the line, for the next film

Also, you may be interested to browse films by program:

•  Gala-premieres, red-carpets, movie-stars
   Special Presentations, high-profile premieres
•  Masters, art-house filmmakers
   Conversations with film Mavericks
•  Contemporary World Cinema
   Contemporary World Speakers
•  City To City: Seoul, South Korea
•  Discover new directors
•  Vanguard cinema, leading-edge
•  Wavelengths: Avant-garde cinema
•  Documentaries
•  Short-films Canada
   Short-films International
•  Kid-friendly family films
•  Midnight Madness, action/horror/schlock/fantasy
•  FREE: Special events
   FREE: Cinematheque classics
   FREE: Future Projections, cinematic art

Btw, if you want to filter, sort, and search all the feature-films from your smart-phone, try TIFFwidget — it's a mobile-browser friendly version of our full TOfilmfest.ca website. Also, there's a PDF of the 2014 official film schedule, in case you can't pick one up.

So, what's on our list?

Our next post will highlight our picks for TIFF'14...  :-)

#PicktheBestoftheFest

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Doing the film fest for free

That's right, for free. Doing the film fest this year doesn't have to cost you a dime.

A single ticket during the film festival will cost

• $24.75 — regular, single ticket order ($19.69 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
• $45.75 — premium, single ticket order ($38.27 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
• $17.00 — child, single ticket order ($12.83 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
  [12 years and under, "Sprockets Family Zone" only]

— but that's not the only way to enjoy the festival...

You can watch films from past festivals, see some cinematic art, tour the new Lightbox centre, or find out how films are leading a new dialog in Turkish culture — you can even see the winner of the people's choice award for free!

Here's a list of what's free:

TIFF for Free

• American Beauty (1999) – Sam Mendes
• Away from Her (2006) – Sarah Polley
• The Big Chill (1983) – Lawrence Kasdan
• Crash (2004) – Paul Haggis
• Outrageous! (1977) – Richard Benner
• The Princess Bride (1987) – Rob Reiner
• Roadkill (1989) – Bruce McDonald
• Water (2005) – Deepa Mehta

2010 Future Projections

• 24 Hour Psycho Back and Forth... – Douglas Gordon
• Angst Essen/Eat Fear – Ming Wong
• Heavenhell – Chris Chong Chan Fui, Yasuhi
• In Love for the Mood – Ming Wong
• Jeanne – Martin Arnold
• Journey to the Moon – William Kentridge
• Klatsassin – Stan Douglas, Steffen Mennek
• Man With a Movie Camera... Global Remake – Perry Bard
• NYman With A Movie Camera – Michael Nyman
• Otolith III – Otolith Group
• Slidelength – Michael Snow
• Soft Rains #6: Suburban Horror – Jennifer McCoy, Kevin McCoy
• Workers Leaving the Factory... – Harun Farocki

Also free, and open to the public at Lightbox, beginning September at 12pm, for the duration of the festival:

• Essential Cinema – a journey through the Essential 100, a list of the most influential films of all time; costumes, film stills, posters, music samples and film clips, the exhibition charts these works – all 100 of them – that have played such a key role in defining film culture for more than a century
  
  
• Special Commissions
  8½ Screens, Atom Egoyan – a key scene from Fellini’s masterpiece 8½, and a reversal of the customary relationship between the projector, the audience, and the screen
  E-100, James Andean & François Xavier Saint-Pierre – a sound installation in which key samples of film dialogue culled from the films in the Essential 100 list are heard in random variations, interweaving dialogue, environmental sounds and instrumental accompaniment
  Hauntings I, Guy Maddin – involves eleven projections in the main gallery space showing recreated fragments of lost or unrealized film masterpieces
  Hauntings II, Guy Maddin – illuminating the Lightbox fifth floor windows every night of the Festival, forming a ghostly curtain that will reveal a siren beckoning visitors to enter
  Essential Titles, Barr Gilmore – 5-minute looped motion graphic projection that isolates and recreates only the title and director's credit from the opening sequences of all of the films on the Essential 100 list — a visually stunning piece that will act as an environmental graphic at the entrance of the exhibition

Events

• TIFF Bell Lightbox 101 — guided tour
• Istanbul: A Conversation — panel discussion
  
• People’s Choice Award — free screening

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

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