The party began for me around 6:30pm Friday evening after picking up my daytime package; I was armed with camp chair, films notes, tarp (it was still raining when I left), bottled water, and whimsical hoodie. The boys had been holding a spot for me, Sachin (with the help of our friend Darrin) had been there since 4:30 holding spots for us. They'd met a kindred film soul in line named John, who was as good as family to us for the remainder of the night. I sent out my obligatory tweet (#TIFFOvernightLine if you want to see how it played out live) and got settled in for a long night.
The great thing about pulling an overnighter with a group is you can spell each other off to grab dinner, restock water, take washroom breaks, go to the LCBO for a nightcap (haha), etc. Other things that helped make our night better included the forecasted rain stopping early, poutine, and comics -- at least that was the magic combo for Eddy.
During civilized hours we had several visitors stop by to provide moral support, Darrin, Genevieve, Adil, and Jason amongst them. Even more people tweeted/facebooked to say they were rooting for us. We persevered with our film lists while simultaneously distracting each other with the standard nerd (movie or otherwise) fodder, by midnight we'd covered all the basics... Star Wars, LOTR, Harry Potter, Kevin Smith and were rehashing our Fan Expo experiences. Eddy lamented that we didn't bring playing cards, someone nearby lamented that nobody brought Settlers of Catan (omg what kind of folks am I camping with?? lol).
First round of reinforcements (aka round of coffees) came from Jason whom we sucked into our black hole of TIFF conversation in record time. Yes, this is the thanks you get. But overnight line hero has to be Chris B. who drove down from Yonge and St. Clair at 2am with a jug of coffee, cheese and cracker packs, and a stack of tuna sandwiches! It was more than we could finish so we went scouting for tired, famished faces in line.
Every year I see a few familiar faces, we only ever seem to meet in this line up, so I use the opportunity to do a little catching up. In the process meeting new friends as we've reached that point in the night where people will come together to talk about any(movie)thing in order to stay awake. This is where I met a very enthusiastic Nicole Kidman fan and learned of the plot of Dogville in great detail.
3:30am I started considering sleep when I saw a plastic disc fly through the sky further back in line. I go investigate and find two fellas (Matt and Mark) tossing a frisbee around! Being a former frisbee enthusiast I immediately get in on the action after some quick intros, Matt tells me how early he got there and a bit about the films he wants to see between throws.
Shortly before 5 I fall prey to my first power nap, and wake to rumblings that they are letting us in shortly. There's a bit of confusion of the order of things, mutterings of an official line-up list (which some overnight campers did not catch wind of) but in the end the good old-fashioned honor system won out (not to mention with so many keen eyes watching, who would dare sneak in where they don't belong?)
Just before going in, Mark, bringer of the frisbee, came by to say thank you for a good game. I thank him for thinking to bring a frisbee and wish him good luck with his movies. "Oh," he says, "I'm not really here for that..." Ok... after he was out of earshot Sachin and I speculated whether Mark knew that there would be a bunch of people lining up and brought the frisbee in hopes someone would want to play, or if he just regularly wandered through Pecault Square in the middle of the night with a frisbee. Either way, pretty random.
Once inside members were split into a separate line and Sachin and I found ourselves very well-positioned -- "Membership DOES have its privileges!" Sachin exclaimed. From 35th or so outside, we were now in the top 10. J had a bit of a longer wait though.
At this point I was really fighting the exhaustion, camera crews were sweeping the line and many people wanted to get a picture of the line as they were coming in. Though I tried my best to fight it, I'm sure there were still a lot of photos of me, passed out, face smashed against the side of my chair -- sexy.
6:50am and there's not even time for one final tweet before they direct us to the kiosks, we begin rattling off our long lists of movies so that orders will be ready to 'process' as soon as the clocks strike 7!
I was later informed that news stories reported disappointment at the TIFF box office that morning, there was a problem with buying online and people not getting what they wanted... I don't know what they were talking about! I got EVERYTHING I wanted! Needed 30 tickets and got all 30! In 6+ years of this line-up, this was the highest success rate I'd ever had! This was echoed by Sachin and other patrons around me at the kiosks. I say great job TIFF box office! When I first came in the line set-up looked crazy, but I guess there is a method to your madness.
The TIFF11 campout itself was mostly pleasant, I was thrilled to have good company to keep me going through the night, some pleasant diversions, and a most pleasing outcome! See you and your camping chair again next year!
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AFTERWORD
About the Cast:
"Sachin" is a contributing blogger for the TIFF Midnight Madness Blog
"J" is artistic - here is proof.
"Eddy" is a connoisseur of film, music, and comic arts.
"John" is utilizing his 25-and-under "student" status to see premium screenings for only $25.
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