Ryan McNeil
Last night, just before the witching hour, I settled on the twenty-five films and events I plan on attending at TIFF 2013 (I’ll list the full slate once all my passes are confirmed next week).
As I closed my laptop and rubbed my weary eyes, a sense of peace came over me. No matter how many times I go through it, putting together a TIFF schedule never fails to frazzle somewhat. While I’ve managed to reduce the “frazzle-factor” (totally the name of my next band!), I realize that it comes with a cost.
The cost is that I’m going to miss something.
I’m going to miss something good.
I’m going to miss something I’ll end up loving later.
I’m going to miss what I’ll later love, potentially at the cost of something lacklustre.
There’s a bright side to this, of course, which is that it leaves me viewing fodder in later months when many are complaining that “there’s nothing good in theatres”. The other bright side, is that more often than not, I do enjoy what I chose, even in the face of what I missed.
Looking back to last year though, I missed some doozies…
One of those was one of the best films I watched last year, the other five are all very high up my list of films I’ve watched this year. Would it have been great to have caught them at TIFF? You bet. Would I have loved to have seen them in place of some of the disappointing films I saw at last year’s fest? Hell yes.
However, there was little way to know that. So while it’s one thing to say that I would have dug seeing STORIES WE TELL far more than something like HERE COMES THE DEVIL, the truth is that Sarah Polley’s film could have easily been playing at the same time as something like THE MASTER…or SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK…or AMOUR.
It’s a crapshoot gang – here’s hoping I have chosen wisely this year, and that the titles I leave sitting on the bench don’t cause me too many regrets.
It’s definitely a crapshoot, but the best part about it all is that you’re in on the groundfloor. Before the critics can color your reception of it.
Funny thing – sometimes people still do colour my opinion! I’ve ditched tickets based on really bad word-of-mouth, questioned choices because of feedback (including this comign slate), and picked up additional selections based on wagging tongues.
The funny thing is seeing how the feedback holds up in the harsh light of day after everybody has taken off their “festival goggles”
25 seems like a light festival load. Is that due to time constraints, or is that all the tickets you can get? Sometimes it’s good to miss some good ones – gives you something to look forward to + sometimes festival fatigue can do some films a disservice.
At the moment, 25 allows me to see a healthy dose, not go completely sleep-deprived, be social, create content, and live to tell the tale.
If/when I decide to stop writing about what I see and just watch, I could easily see that tally climbing up to around 40.
A sensible approach to a film festival?! What is this madness?
Mass cinematic goodness is no reason to lose track of one’s senses…
Hey, as long as you see the Iranian films, it doesn’t really matter what you miss!
Did I mention that last year I missed a free showing of THIS IS NOT A FILM? And the year before that I missed A SEPARATION?
Iran and I don’t have the greatest track record…
I think it’s inevitable. I have been in the same situation a number of times. I don’t come close to the number of films you see at TIFF but between the three to four festivals I attend a year, I do see about 35 festival premieres and still end up missing some of the biggest and best. There is no way to avoid this problem I fear.
I would like to throw out there that in saying that, we are solidifying that the best films have end up being indies connected to a festival…
Your last statement intrigues me, but I think I’m reading it wrong. Could you clarify a bit for me?
Knowing how limited my time and financial budgets are for TIFF, sadly, I have to choose only the ones that I feel like I couldn’t go without seeing. Bigger films like Gravity or Rush I’m going to have to leave until theatrical release, which I’m okay with.
For instance, last year I missed out on Drive, and I was so bummed, but then when I realized it was going to be in theaters mere weeks later I was kind of glad I didn’t spend twice as much to see a movie only a week before the rest of the world…
That being said, if I had the funds and the vacation days, I would probably see every single film humanly possible at TIFF. Who wouldn’t?
many moons ago when I started working for the company I currently do, a girl on staff told me that she took her vacation time to co-incide with the festival. With that, she created a monster. After all, the cash you’d drop on a half decent pass is akin to the money you’d spend getting out-of-town, right?
So, if you have the means and the opportunity, there’s always that.
But you’re right – as nice as it’d be to see a lot of these selections in a festival atmosphere, they almost all find their way on to screens eventually.
Funny you mention DRIVE – that year, I just left a hole in my schedule and saw it at a Cineplex when it opened on the second Friday. Gotta love seeing a festival film for half price!