TIFF Day 3

It’s the end of day 3 of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)...my most favourite time of the year. The city becomes electric. For 11 days the city becomes infested with film directors, producers and let’s not forget the stars! The list is seriously long this year - everyone from George Clooney to home-grown Ryan Gosling, Sarah Polley and even the President of the Maldives are in town.

TIFF can be quirky. Case in point: last night’s line-up at AMC. It was one of those lineups where you “sit” in line in a theatre. When they run out of space they “back you up” into a holding pen. When I say “back you up”, I literally mean that 20 of us walked backwards into a line that snaked into a roped off area. Not moments later - we all began to move forward again to get into another theatre to watch our film. Does it need to be this complicated?

The city also seems so much more friendly. While stuck on the subway last night (due to an unauthorized person at track level). We were without power and not moving for over 15 minutes. (I was entirely thankful that we had just exited Bloor Station so were outdoors so I had access to the net!) In that time, the entire train seemed to make friends out of strangers. And as these new friends starting exiting the subway, I heard (more than once), “It was really nice to meet you.”

See?! This is why TIFF makes us happier, friendlier and even more patient Torontonians...and it’s only the end of day 3.

So far I have seen 3 of 11 (perhaps 12) films and so far - this is how they stack up:

1. 360 - Travel around the world, watching people making decisions that have ripple effects on the others in the film. Best line in the film “If there’s a fork in the road, take it.” Jude Law made this film REAL easy on the eyes.
2. Beauty - An intensely power film about a middle-aged gay man living in a very straight world. Shot in South Africa. A couple of scenes were definitely NOT easy to watch.
3. Girl Model - A documentary about the the modeling industry from the point of view of an ex-model turned model scout. Scouting little girls from Siberia and landing them in Japan.