I don't know if this qualifies as a favourite memory so much as it's something I remember. Something awkward (and therefore amusing) I might add.
In a recent festival Ralph Fiennes was at the Elgin to premier his film, he was scheduled to introduce the film and then sit with the audience to watch it.
The inside rep reserved Mr. Fiennes and his co-star some aisle seats and upon learning that I would also being going to see the movie after my volunteer shift ended, asked me if I would like the two seats in front of Mr. Fiennes as I could be trusted not to go psycho-fan and start harrassing the stars (I don't guarantee I could do this for every star, but Ralph Fiennes, yeah, I could refrain from gawking.)
Intros and seating went smoothly, and the rep led Mr. Fiennes and Felicity Jones to their seats. I remember Mr. Fiennes being confused by the chorus of "AAAARRRRRR!!!s" during the anti-piracy ad, and then the film got going...
...and I started nodding off :O
I don't want to knock his directorial efforts, I'm sure the film is very good under the right circumstances, but it was a slower-moving period drama and I was feeling some mid-festival fatigue. I'd start to nod and then remember "Crap! Ralph Fiennes is right behind me! He's going to see me sleeping during his movie!"
I tried my best to slump lower in my seat so he couldn't tell I was unconscious for half the movie... #filmfestivalproblems
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - The Yellow Sprinkles
When it comes to TIFF, there's a lot of "traditions" and "rituals" evolved from things that just seem to happen every festival. But it's not just at the festival every year in September, these extend to other areas of TIFF as well.
Every spring, TIFF has a film festival for children, appropriately called "TIFF Kids". It's a smaller crew of volunteers required for TIFF Kids, still plenty busy but a different kind of experience. Though we're in our t-shirts and on the job, we still like to get in touch with our childish side when the opportunity arises. (I have MANY photos with Cookie Monster to prove this)
One major difference between TIFF and TIFF Kids is the cupcakes and pizza. It's just not TIFF Kids until you get cupcakes and pizza. These are leftovers from events in the building which they always bring to the volunteers. The amounts will vary depending on how much food is left from the events, but one of the things we often find remnants of a cupcake decorating station placed in our lounge area.
One year there were a couple dozen cupcakes dropped off, un-decorated, and like a dozen bags of sprinkles, candies, gummies etc. to pile on top of the frosting. Man, that shift was a series of sugar rushes and crashes...
At the end of the shift the cupcakes were gone, as were all of the candies that you could easily eat without a cupcake (ie. smarties, gummy bears). When my friend and fellow captain Darlene and I were cleaning up, all that was left was a massive bag of yellow sprinkles.
Not wanting to let them go to waste, we decided to divide the bag and make something with the sprinkles each.
I returned the next weekend with some lemon cupcakes of my own, topped with yellow sprinkles. Darlene... nothing.
She didn't forget, she just couldn't do it that weekend. Four months later in August when I walked into the captain training, she had a yellow sprinkle cupcake for me :)
[Elgin sometimes-captain Rosa took a picture of me with that cupcake... which matched with the yellow purse and phone I had that day, I'm just not sure where the photo is]
Every spring, TIFF has a film festival for children, appropriately called "TIFF Kids". It's a smaller crew of volunteers required for TIFF Kids, still plenty busy but a different kind of experience. Though we're in our t-shirts and on the job, we still like to get in touch with our childish side when the opportunity arises. (I have MANY photos with Cookie Monster to prove this)
One major difference between TIFF and TIFF Kids is the cupcakes and pizza. It's just not TIFF Kids until you get cupcakes and pizza. These are leftovers from events in the building which they always bring to the volunteers. The amounts will vary depending on how much food is left from the events, but one of the things we often find remnants of a cupcake decorating station placed in our lounge area.
One year there were a couple dozen cupcakes dropped off, un-decorated, and like a dozen bags of sprinkles, candies, gummies etc. to pile on top of the frosting. Man, that shift was a series of sugar rushes and crashes...
At the end of the shift the cupcakes were gone, as were all of the candies that you could easily eat without a cupcake (ie. smarties, gummy bears). When my friend and fellow captain Darlene and I were cleaning up, all that was left was a massive bag of yellow sprinkles.
Not wanting to let them go to waste, we decided to divide the bag and make something with the sprinkles each.
I returned the next weekend with some lemon cupcakes of my own, topped with yellow sprinkles. Darlene... nothing.
She didn't forget, she just couldn't do it that weekend. Four months later in August when I walked into the captain training, she had a yellow sprinkle cupcake for me :)
[Elgin sometimes-captain Rosa took a picture of me with that cupcake... which matched with the yellow purse and phone I had that day, I'm just not sure where the photo is]
#AdaTIFFmems - Elgin Crew outtings
Looks like I'm past that midnight deadline again. In my defense, I've been sitting here searching for photos since just after 11:30pm...
So earlier this week about half of us volunteer captains were at a training session over at TIFF Bell Lightbox, an informative affair, but also a great chance to see familiar faces and do some catching up.
The waiting the training usually works is we are put into groups, often by the type of venue we work at. So all of the people working at the same venue are typically put in the same group. Our Elgin/Winter Garden collective wasn't particularly domineering but we were happy to be seated together.
On the opposite end sat a rowdy bunch ;) ... better know as team Ryerson. I have volunteered alongside many a Ryerson captain at TIFF Kids and other events, they're a lovely bunch, but when we get into our venue groups the trash talk begins.
I will commend the Ryerson crew, they are a very close-knit bunch. They keep in touch outside of the festival and get together regularly. But before I start sounding like a complete wannabe, the Elgin crew is not too shabby when it comes to staying in touch either.
We've had two get togethers outside of TIFF (a few more maybe if you count those nights during the festival when the captains decided to hit up the Imperial), a dinner near Christmas-time in 2008, and a quasi-impromptu brunch a couple years later.
The brunch at Hot House 2-3 years later was probably in the springtime (?) a bit more cobbled together. I was not the principle photographer, I remember Veronica (whom I only really got to know after this brunch, where she was invited by Davor) had a camera that day. I was only able to find a few random photos.
So earlier this week about half of us volunteer captains were at a training session over at TIFF Bell Lightbox, an informative affair, but also a great chance to see familiar faces and do some catching up.
The waiting the training usually works is we are put into groups, often by the type of venue we work at. So all of the people working at the same venue are typically put in the same group. Our Elgin/Winter Garden collective wasn't particularly domineering but we were happy to be seated together.
On the opposite end sat a rowdy bunch ;) ... better know as team Ryerson. I have volunteered alongside many a Ryerson captain at TIFF Kids and other events, they're a lovely bunch, but when we get into our venue groups the trash talk begins.
I will commend the Ryerson crew, they are a very close-knit bunch. They keep in touch outside of the festival and get together regularly. But before I start sounding like a complete wannabe, the Elgin crew is not too shabby when it comes to staying in touch either.
We've had two get togethers outside of TIFF (a few more maybe if you count those nights during the festival when the captains decided to hit up the Imperial), a dinner near Christmas-time in 2008, and a quasi-impromptu brunch a couple years later.
 |
| December 2008 at the Pickle Barrel |
The brunch at Hot House 2-3 years later was probably in the springtime (?) a bit more cobbled together. I was not the principle photographer, I remember Veronica (whom I only really got to know after this brunch, where she was invited by Davor) had a camera that day. I was only able to find a few random photos.
 |
| Darrin and Jack (not sure if we've just said something to scandalize Jack or if that's just his itis kicking in after buffet). |
 |
| Veronica and Davor in the left side of the photo... I can't say I really remember Veronica from the Elgin at that point, but her and I are now good friends, and last year we captained together at the Elgin. |
Friday, August 28, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - the wonder food of frugal film goers everywhere
After more than a decade and a half, you develop some preparatory rituals for every festival. I'm not talking about sacrificing Coppola family members (tho god knows there enough of them), more like things you do to get ready for TIFF.
For me it's getting all my laundry done, stocking the fridge with grab 'n go items, making a giant pot of soup or something that will get me through the first few days before I have to succumb to take-out dinners. There are some more specific things, like I'll start noting who has the best price for Cold FX, or comparing with my friends which supermarket has the best Red Bull sale.
The food is really the biggest piece. While I love take out and not having to cook for myself, sometimes the things you're forced to grab when you're in a hurry is nothing short of disappointing (or worse, disgusting!). Not to mention it gets costly very quickly.
I will pre-bag veggies, fruits, trail mix, etc to put in my fridge, and have single portion smoothies and vitamin water ready as well. Some people actually know me for my individually packaged fridge. Not everyone suffers from OCD to that level tho, and even for myself, those lovely fresh veggies only last for about 4 or 5 days at most.
That's when all the frugal, hurried, filmgoers turn to one miracle food that will sustain you throughout the entire festival: the cereal bar! (This can include nutrition bars, granola bars, power bars, etc.) I swear they invited these things just for us.
The first time you come running into a darkened theatre to catch your 4th film of the day and reach into your bag for one of these individually wrapped delights, you are pleased as punch with yourself that you had the foresight to pack these babies. The foil wrappers on them surprisingly don't make too much noise, they are packed with nutrients (and sugar, but you'll need that to run from film 4 to film 5 later), and in the event they get flattened at the bottom of your bag, they remain every bit as edible.
That said, every TIFF also reaches a turning point, when you're relied too heavily on those miracle bars... that just seeing one of those smashed nutri-grain packages at the bottom of your backpack will make your stomach turn. That's around the time street meat starts sounding ok...
For me it's getting all my laundry done, stocking the fridge with grab 'n go items, making a giant pot of soup or something that will get me through the first few days before I have to succumb to take-out dinners. There are some more specific things, like I'll start noting who has the best price for Cold FX, or comparing with my friends which supermarket has the best Red Bull sale.
The food is really the biggest piece. While I love take out and not having to cook for myself, sometimes the things you're forced to grab when you're in a hurry is nothing short of disappointing (or worse, disgusting!). Not to mention it gets costly very quickly.
I will pre-bag veggies, fruits, trail mix, etc to put in my fridge, and have single portion smoothies and vitamin water ready as well. Some people actually know me for my individually packaged fridge. Not everyone suffers from OCD to that level tho, and even for myself, those lovely fresh veggies only last for about 4 or 5 days at most.
That's when all the frugal, hurried, filmgoers turn to one miracle food that will sustain you throughout the entire festival: the cereal bar! (This can include nutrition bars, granola bars, power bars, etc.) I swear they invited these things just for us.
The first time you come running into a darkened theatre to catch your 4th film of the day and reach into your bag for one of these individually wrapped delights, you are pleased as punch with yourself that you had the foresight to pack these babies. The foil wrappers on them surprisingly don't make too much noise, they are packed with nutrients (and sugar, but you'll need that to run from film 4 to film 5 later), and in the event they get flattened at the bottom of your bag, they remain every bit as edible.
That said, every TIFF also reaches a turning point, when you're relied too heavily on those miracle bars... that just seeing one of those smashed nutri-grain packages at the bottom of your backpack will make your stomach turn. That's around the time street meat starts sounding ok...
Thursday, August 27, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Friends that pre-date TIFF
So by now I think I've adequately proven how many great friends I've met while volunteering. I am living proof that TIFF is a great place to make friends.
But how about those instances when you bring your friends into the TIFF fold?
I mentioned Jae yesterday, and others that I see every year at the fest, but let's focus on those whom I convinced to join me in volunteering.
The first friends I persuaded to get involved with TIFF were Scott (and I believe Richie?), who joined me as a volunteer for a year or two in the early 00's. Subsequently there was Mel and Chris who both volunteered with me at the Elgin and served alongside me as Volunteer Captains at our beloved theatre. My oldest friend (whom I've known since kindergarten) Adrian even tried her hand at volunteering one year.
However, please allow me to brag when I say my greatest gift to TIFF was this guy:
Here's a slightly more recognizable photo...
His name is Christopher and you may know him from such venues as the Varsity, Scotiabank, and even showcasing his installations at Digi Playspace two years in a row!
Christopher and I grew up on the same street in south Etobicoke and have gone to school together since we were 10. We were across the street neighbors and learned to skip school at an early age to watch Aliens instead (true story, I got into a lot of trouble).
Even though we went our separate ways for some years, we reconnected when I was at film school at Ryerson and he was studying animation at Sheridan. He worked on almost all of my film projects in the latter part of my program and was one of the hardest working crew members I ever had on set. In turn I offered up my very poor audio mixing skills and recorded a few tracks for him and his band.
One time Chris was over at my place for a bbq and he brought along a girl named Irene, she was a little gothy and super nice. I'm guessing TIFF-ers will recognize her too...?
Fast forward 10+ years, and Christopher and Irene are not merely one of my favourite couples, but also a stellar art duo as well. Catshrine's installations have been featured at TIFF's Digi Playspace the past two years and they will be participating in Festival Street for TIFF 15 as well.
But how about those instances when you bring your friends into the TIFF fold?
I mentioned Jae yesterday, and others that I see every year at the fest, but let's focus on those whom I convinced to join me in volunteering.
The first friends I persuaded to get involved with TIFF were Scott (and I believe Richie?), who joined me as a volunteer for a year or two in the early 00's. Subsequently there was Mel and Chris who both volunteered with me at the Elgin and served alongside me as Volunteer Captains at our beloved theatre. My oldest friend (whom I've known since kindergarten) Adrian even tried her hand at volunteering one year.
However, please allow me to brag when I say my greatest gift to TIFF was this guy:
 |
| Photo circa 1993! |
Here's a slightly more recognizable photo...
His name is Christopher and you may know him from such venues as the Varsity, Scotiabank, and even showcasing his installations at Digi Playspace two years in a row!
Christopher and I grew up on the same street in south Etobicoke and have gone to school together since we were 10. We were across the street neighbors and learned to skip school at an early age to watch Aliens instead (true story, I got into a lot of trouble).
Even though we went our separate ways for some years, we reconnected when I was at film school at Ryerson and he was studying animation at Sheridan. He worked on almost all of my film projects in the latter part of my program and was one of the hardest working crew members I ever had on set. In turn I offered up my very poor audio mixing skills and recorded a few tracks for him and his band.
One time Chris was over at my place for a bbq and he brought along a girl named Irene, she was a little gothy and super nice. I'm guessing TIFF-ers will recognize her too...?
Fast forward 10+ years, and Christopher and Irene are not merely one of my favourite couples, but also a stellar art duo as well. Catshrine's installations have been featured at TIFF's Digi Playspace the past two years and they will be participating in Festival Street for TIFF 15 as well.
I ran into Christopher this past weekend at TIFF Bell Lightbox, here's a pic of us all grown up (well not really, but looks are deceiving)...
Bonus pic:
How I learned the hard way that it's not a good idea for me to get into leaf fights...
(I can't find the photo of us spending half an hour picking leaves out of my hair)
(I can't find the photo of us spending half an hour picking leaves out of my hair)
 |
| My best guess is that this is 1994/95... |
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Reconnecting at the festival
In my stories I mention my friend Jae (sometimes just "J") a lot. Out of a heap of film geek friends, I would consider him the biggest film geek of them all. He is one of the most knowledgeable guys I know when it comes to movies, pulp novels, and R-rated video games.
Jae is a long-time TIFF-goer though he's never made the leap into volunteering. Akin to a vampire that doesn't drink blood (I think?), Jae is the most nocturnal person I know (again, that's quite a feat amongst my friends) and therefore loves coming out for many middle of the night chats. Even in years when he hasn't lined up in the overnight line with us, I will sometimes nod off and awake to find Jae sitting next to me talking movies with someone else who isn't sleeping. (Tad creepy? yeah probably)
 |
| The time I let Jae hold onto Sachin's bday gift... |
Well, Jae and I pre-date TIFF just a little. We were highschool classmates, even then he was the biggest film buff that I knew. It wasn't like we both turned 18 and started going to the festival together though, in fact, we actually had a bit of a falling out and weren't in contact for some years.
One of the first times I had a real conversation with Jae again after highschool was when I ran into him in 'festival village', a term invented only in recent years but this was the early 00's equivalent, so we're probably talking Yonge St. near the former Uptown Theatre.
The specifics of the run-in are hazy, but this was aorund the year Ichi the Killer was screening, probably Fulltime Killer as well (so 2001?) Jae was just standing by a lamp post, I stopped and we had a brief conversation about some of the films screening at Midnight Madness before parting ways.
In the years that followed we continued to see each other in and around TIFF, and would team up for rush lines together. That led to more regular contact, until he was one of the boys again. So I guess you could say that TIFF played a significant part in our friendship.
One of the first times I had a real conversation with Jae again after highschool was when I ran into him in 'festival village', a term invented only in recent years but this was the early 00's equivalent, so we're probably talking Yonge St. near the former Uptown Theatre.
The specifics of the run-in are hazy, but this was aorund the year Ichi the Killer was screening, probably Fulltime Killer as well (so 2001?) Jae was just standing by a lamp post, I stopped and we had a brief conversation about some of the films screening at Midnight Madness before parting ways.
In the years that followed we continued to see each other in and around TIFF, and would team up for rush lines together. That led to more regular contact, until he was one of the boys again. So I guess you could say that TIFF played a significant part in our friendship.
One of the greatest things about Jae is that we have a million photos together so it's a breeze to find a few to post...
 |
| At a TIFF party... |
 |
| At Nuit Blanche... |
Another great thing about Jae is that he doesn't really age, so it doesn't matter what year photos I pull, he looks the same in all of them.
 |
| At a birthday party (mine) |
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - The Once Wonderful Roy Thomson Hall Rush Line
Happy film schedule day! I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that today's entry is pre-written and scheduled to post as I'm busy studying film synopsis and screening times.
In keeping with stories about films (might as well make it two days in a row), I want to tell you about the former glory that was the Roy Thomson Hall rush line.
A reception and gala with ticket obtained in advance aside, I haven't been to Roy Thomson Hall (RTH) to see a film in 6 or 7 years. Even in the final few years I tried my best to avoid it. Not so when I first started volunteering for the festival.
The rush line for RTH extends along King St stretching west, there's a ledge there that's perfect for sitting, which you're gonna want to do when you're lining up 2 hours or more in advance for your chance at last minute tickets (aka Rush tickets, offered at sold out shows right when the film starts and there are unoccupied seats because people didn't show/tickets were returned).
I've spent many hours sitting in that line, it was like a miniature version of the overnight line where we would gather to chat, socialize, and perhaps have take-out dinner before a film. They often gave out samples of food and other items in line (I remember Jae once won a free flight to somewhere in Canada), and people with extra tickets would sometimes just give them to us. It really was one of the happiest spots in the festival.
How does it differ from any other rush line you ask? Well, aside from freebies and a place to sit, RTH also offered up the best odds of any TIFF venue to get in via Rush. If you were amongst the first 50 people, it was pretty much in the bag.
There was one time where the Rush situation got a little nerve-wracking. We under-estimated the popularity of a little Chinese period drama called Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and when we showed up just under two hours before the film's start time, we found ourselves pass the 200 person mark in line.
As the film's starting time neared we began moving forward, they usually start with groups of 20 or 25, then groups of 10, etc. We inched along nervously, so anxious to see Ang Lee's latest epic, and it even started to rain! (yuck) We got to the front where they relayed that the intros were starting and they might have to cut the line. But then... some extra rush entry tokens became available! They managed to find seats for like 230 people to a sold out show - amazing!
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon of course was fantastic, I've seen it at least twice in theatres and who knows how many times on DVD since. To date it remains my greatest rush line success story.
In subsequent years, for reasons unbeknownst to me, the success rate of the RTH rush declined. I found myself 40th in line for Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream and being turned away, rumours swirled that even the 10th person in line wasn't guaranteed entry into the 2000+ seat venue. TIFF began using other large venues such as the Ryerson and Winter Garden and so we started trying our rush line luck somewhere else. I can't really comment on what the rush line situation is like now at RTH, but I've never gone back.
In keeping with stories about films (might as well make it two days in a row), I want to tell you about the former glory that was the Roy Thomson Hall rush line.
A reception and gala with ticket obtained in advance aside, I haven't been to Roy Thomson Hall (RTH) to see a film in 6 or 7 years. Even in the final few years I tried my best to avoid it. Not so when I first started volunteering for the festival.
The rush line for RTH extends along King St stretching west, there's a ledge there that's perfect for sitting, which you're gonna want to do when you're lining up 2 hours or more in advance for your chance at last minute tickets (aka Rush tickets, offered at sold out shows right when the film starts and there are unoccupied seats because people didn't show/tickets were returned).
I've spent many hours sitting in that line, it was like a miniature version of the overnight line where we would gather to chat, socialize, and perhaps have take-out dinner before a film. They often gave out samples of food and other items in line (I remember Jae once won a free flight to somewhere in Canada), and people with extra tickets would sometimes just give them to us. It really was one of the happiest spots in the festival.
How does it differ from any other rush line you ask? Well, aside from freebies and a place to sit, RTH also offered up the best odds of any TIFF venue to get in via Rush. If you were amongst the first 50 people, it was pretty much in the bag.
There was one time where the Rush situation got a little nerve-wracking. We under-estimated the popularity of a little Chinese period drama called Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and when we showed up just under two hours before the film's start time, we found ourselves pass the 200 person mark in line.
As the film's starting time neared we began moving forward, they usually start with groups of 20 or 25, then groups of 10, etc. We inched along nervously, so anxious to see Ang Lee's latest epic, and it even started to rain! (yuck) We got to the front where they relayed that the intros were starting and they might have to cut the line. But then... some extra rush entry tokens became available! They managed to find seats for like 230 people to a sold out show - amazing!
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon of course was fantastic, I've seen it at least twice in theatres and who knows how many times on DVD since. To date it remains my greatest rush line success story.
In subsequent years, for reasons unbeknownst to me, the success rate of the RTH rush declined. I found myself 40th in line for Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream and being turned away, rumours swirled that even the 10th person in line wasn't guaranteed entry into the 2000+ seat venue. TIFF began using other large venues such as the Ryerson and Winter Garden and so we started trying our rush line luck somewhere else. I can't really comment on what the rush line situation is like now at RTH, but I've never gone back.
Monday, August 24, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - TIFF is about the movies too
I'd like to think my favourite memories about TIFF are varied. Some volunteer stories, some tales about celebs... friendships, fumbles, and today, I even have a memory about an actual movie! A film memory from a film festival, what a concept...
I don't know if I have an all-time favourite TIFF movie (actually, I'm certain I don't). I have movies that are tied to a good story, part of a good night, and then some that are are neither but have stuck with me over the years.
One of those is TIFF 2003's Jeux d'Enfants (Love Me If You Dare).
I didn't see it under any special circumstances. Eugene told me to pick a movie and this one caught my eye. It was French, seemed like something in the tradition of Amelie (which I think came to theatres in North America in 2002), whose whimsy we were all still reeling from and freaking out about.
Turned out, Love Me if You Dare was even better! Starring a then unknown (in North America anyway) Marion Cotillard and Guilliame Canet, it's an irresistible romance (and that says a lot coming from me) with just a splash of fantasy. It remains one of my favs to this day.
If you like Amelie and/or Michel Gondry's films, I'd encourage you to go back and check this one out. Certainly better than Gondry's Mood Indigo (whimsy for whimsy's sake in my opinion). I've recommended it to many friends over the years, you won't be sorry.
I don't know if I have an all-time favourite TIFF movie (actually, I'm certain I don't). I have movies that are tied to a good story, part of a good night, and then some that are are neither but have stuck with me over the years.
One of those is TIFF 2003's Jeux d'Enfants (Love Me If You Dare).
Turned out, Love Me if You Dare was even better! Starring a then unknown (in North America anyway) Marion Cotillard and Guilliame Canet, it's an irresistible romance (and that says a lot coming from me) with just a splash of fantasy. It remains one of my favs to this day.
If you like Amelie and/or Michel Gondry's films, I'd encourage you to go back and check this one out. Certainly better than Gondry's Mood Indigo (whimsy for whimsy's sake in my opinion). I've recommended it to many friends over the years, you won't be sorry.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Asian Night
Some traditions are nurtured and built upon over the years, others just kinda happen.
Be it Midnight Madness meet-ups, overnight line comradery, or the Elgin group photo, we form many "traditions" over the years attending the festival.
While I may have driven the group photo, nobody in particular shaped our MM plans, nor dictated who should do what for the overnight line. Similarly the following (almost) tradition just sort of happened - we call it "Asian Night".
TIFF programs films from all over the world, which naturally includes several top notch Asian productions every year. Some Hong Kong action inserted in the MM or Vanguard line-up, or a master director added to Contemporary World Cinema or Special Presentations. Be they action, drama, comedy, animation, or something in between, those of us who are avid TIFF-goers and of Asian decent can't help but feel a swell of allegiance when the titles are announced, and develop a desire to attend these films.
What that means, is that typically one day/night per festival, there will be a large concentration of us (Asians) all in attendance at all the same movies. We don't plan necessarily, our individually-created schedules just naturally align. These Asian selections will often play on the same night, making it an evening of all-Asian viewing, hence the term "Asian Night".
It's become part of our TIFF 'lingo' and a practice to check in with each other as we get our tickets to pre-determine when this years Asian Night will be.
My prediction of TIFF 15 is that Asian Night will centre around The Assassin and SPL 2 screenings. We'll see if I'm right.
Be it Midnight Madness meet-ups, overnight line comradery, or the Elgin group photo, we form many "traditions" over the years attending the festival.
While I may have driven the group photo, nobody in particular shaped our MM plans, nor dictated who should do what for the overnight line. Similarly the following (almost) tradition just sort of happened - we call it "Asian Night".
TIFF programs films from all over the world, which naturally includes several top notch Asian productions every year. Some Hong Kong action inserted in the MM or Vanguard line-up, or a master director added to Contemporary World Cinema or Special Presentations. Be they action, drama, comedy, animation, or something in between, those of us who are avid TIFF-goers and of Asian decent can't help but feel a swell of allegiance when the titles are announced, and develop a desire to attend these films.
What that means, is that typically one day/night per festival, there will be a large concentration of us (Asians) all in attendance at all the same movies. We don't plan necessarily, our individually-created schedules just naturally align. These Asian selections will often play on the same night, making it an evening of all-Asian viewing, hence the term "Asian Night".
It's become part of our TIFF 'lingo' and a practice to check in with each other as we get our tickets to pre-determine when this years Asian Night will be.
My prediction of TIFF 15 is that Asian Night will centre around The Assassin and SPL 2 screenings. We'll see if I'm right.
#AdaTIFFmems - A brush with fame
Sometimes a "brush with fame" is exactly that.
In 2012 Neil Jordan's anticipated (by me anyway) vampire film Byzantium, starring Saoirse Ronin and (a then lesser known) Gemma Arterton, came to TIFF where it had a screening at the Ryerson Theatre.
I was there with my friends Mike and Jae, the three of us being the biggest fans of gothic horror out of our circle, and this was certainly a modern gothic.
After the movie we walked up the aisle in house right, slowly making out way out. A member of the theatre/festival staff was approaching in the opposite direction and asked us to keep to one side of the aisle (let's say for argument sake it was left).
Several people walked briskly past us, the least brisk of them stepping more casually and when I looked up to see what was the fuss, I saw the face of Colin Farrell passing me by.
Holy shit!
When we get outside I turn to my companions and exclaim "Holy shit, did you see who that was?"
Jae (who's never phased by anything) was like "yeah, that was Colin Farrell"
Mike is equally unaffected.
All I say (still) is eff you guys and your nochalance, Colin frickin' Farrell just came within a foot of us!
In 2012 Neil Jordan's anticipated (by me anyway) vampire film Byzantium, starring Saoirse Ronin and (a then lesser known) Gemma Arterton, came to TIFF where it had a screening at the Ryerson Theatre.
I was there with my friends Mike and Jae, the three of us being the biggest fans of gothic horror out of our circle, and this was certainly a modern gothic.
After the movie we walked up the aisle in house right, slowly making out way out. A member of the theatre/festival staff was approaching in the opposite direction and asked us to keep to one side of the aisle (let's say for argument sake it was left).
Several people walked briskly past us, the least brisk of them stepping more casually and when I looked up to see what was the fuss, I saw the face of Colin Farrell passing me by.
Holy shit!
When we get outside I turn to my companions and exclaim "Holy shit, did you see who that was?"
Jae (who's never phased by anything) was like "yeah, that was Colin Farrell"
Mike is equally unaffected.
All I say (still) is eff you guys and your nochalance, Colin frickin' Farrell just came within a foot of us!
Friday, August 21, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - button distribution at Pride 2006
When most people think about volunteering at TIFF they think of the 11 days in September during the festival itself. Some might recognize that there are year round opportunities too at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Even in addition to those, TIFF does make appearances at external events and festivals as well - some of which require volunteers.
For those who attend Fan Expo every year, you may recall TIFF Midnight Madness at the convention. I've never quite made the cut for volunteering there (granted from the stories I've heard, it can be more insane that fun at times).
My most memorable (and by that I mean most fun) TIFF volunteer experience outside of TIFF was at Pride 2006, when I signed up for "button distribution" on Church St! It is exactly how it sounds, my job was to grab a big bag of buttons (the first year TIFF made buttons!) from the marketing department at 2 Carlton (where TIFF offices used to be) and hand them out on Church Street.
My boyfriend at the time and I were supposed to do shared duty but he got tied up somewhere so I went solo to party up and down the gay village handing out bright blue buttons to every person I met. Tough job ;)
The rounds included catching my friend Jory DJ-ing on the street, dancing and chatting with friends old and new. Walking by one of the restaurants patios and getting asked by girls to dance with them. Hurdling myself in the middle of groups saying silly stuff like "you look like you need a button!"
The whole volunteer "shift" was like being at a daytime rave. People would follow me down the street for buttons, or would want to trade buttons and stickers with me, or give me random hugs (ok, the latter now seems less appealing with age). I did do proper TIFF duty as people asked me how to get involved with volunteering and I met others that had worked for the festival.
At one point I even strolled up to the group of completely naked old men, who always seem to frequent pride, and offered them a button to pin on their shoulder bags. For those who know who know Zanta is, I gave him a TIFF button that year too!
For those who attend Fan Expo every year, you may recall TIFF Midnight Madness at the convention. I've never quite made the cut for volunteering there (granted from the stories I've heard, it can be more insane that fun at times).
My most memorable (and by that I mean most fun) TIFF volunteer experience outside of TIFF was at Pride 2006, when I signed up for "button distribution" on Church St! It is exactly how it sounds, my job was to grab a big bag of buttons (the first year TIFF made buttons!) from the marketing department at 2 Carlton (where TIFF offices used to be) and hand them out on Church Street.
My boyfriend at the time and I were supposed to do shared duty but he got tied up somewhere so I went solo to party up and down the gay village handing out bright blue buttons to every person I met. Tough job ;)
The rounds included catching my friend Jory DJ-ing on the street, dancing and chatting with friends old and new. Walking by one of the restaurants patios and getting asked by girls to dance with them. Hurdling myself in the middle of groups saying silly stuff like "you look like you need a button!"
The whole volunteer "shift" was like being at a daytime rave. People would follow me down the street for buttons, or would want to trade buttons and stickers with me, or give me random hugs (ok, the latter now seems less appealing with age). I did do proper TIFF duty as people asked me how to get involved with volunteering and I met others that had worked for the festival.
At one point I even strolled up to the group of completely naked old men, who always seem to frequent pride, and offered them a button to pin on their shoulder bags. For those who know who know Zanta is, I gave him a TIFF button that year too!
[Photos of me at Pride 2006 may or may not be forthcoming depending on what crazy outfit I was wearing!]
Thursday, August 20, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Forgetful with faces, forgetful with friends
I believe this sort of thing happens to everyone (I hope it happens to everyone and not just me!)... when you meet someone briefly and then the next time you meet again you don't remember them, but they remember you.
Tad awkward? Yes. Happens to Ada at TIFF? All the friggin' time!
In my first or second year of volunteering, I worked with a guy named Ryan H at the recruitment sessions at Roy Thomson Hall. We both studied/worked in film, and one time we were chatting after a session and he wound up walking me home (I lived about a 20 min walk west of RTH then) to continue the conversation.
With all the people I'd met at the festival, coupled by not seeing him again for a year (and all the people I prob met in that time), when Ryan and I spoke again the following year I'd forgotten much of our conversations from the previous year. At one point he mentioned the location of my home and my response was one of confusion... "How do you know where I live?" (I was probably getting ready to shout "stalker!" haha ) He reminded me that he walked me home last year, and then it came back to me. Of course by then I'd already presented myself as the paranoid chick who clearly had no recollection of his courtesy and friendship. Eek.
That said, I remembered Ryan quite well from then on. We were in discussions for him to produce a project I was working on at one point, and though he didn't continue to volunteer for much longer, we did keep in touch for some years. I recall him and his roommates threw some stellar Halloween parties. :)
I don't learn from my mistakes though. A year or two later the TIFF Staff & Volunteer Party was at the Liberty Grand, there were shuttle pick ups for us from downtown, but they took forever. After the wait began to get lengthy, there were some rumblings about sharing a cab. I was up for it, as well as one other guy, but the others declined. We didn't wind up getting a cab, I didn't really want to ride alone with some strange guy anyway.
Fast forward to the next year's recruitment sessions. I began chatting with this one shit-disturbing, purposely evasive guy... I don't make him out to sound like a nice guy but he's actually very funny the way he always calls attention to strange details, or purposely redirects questions at you when he doesn't want to answer them himself. His name is Phil and over the years he's become one of my favourite people to shoot the shit with (not that we talk on the phone anymore now that he's finally learned to text).
Anyway, in one of our many conversations over the summer of 2004, the topic of the TIFF 2003 shuttle fiasco did come up... and yep, you guessed it... Phil was the guy that wanted to share the cab.
While keeping company with Phil that year, his friends came to identify me as "that Asian girl that hangs out with Phil". These friends I would get to know much better in the coming years, one of them being Darrin (whom I mentioned in yesterday's Midnight Madness tales). There are photos of Darrin and I together at a party the year before we actually became friends, how odd is that?
[There might be a photo somewhere of Ryan H and I, and the photos of Darrin and I before we knew each other definitely exist, but both require further digging to uncover. I'll put them up when I find them.]
Tad awkward? Yes. Happens to Ada at TIFF? All the friggin' time!
In my first or second year of volunteering, I worked with a guy named Ryan H at the recruitment sessions at Roy Thomson Hall. We both studied/worked in film, and one time we were chatting after a session and he wound up walking me home (I lived about a 20 min walk west of RTH then) to continue the conversation.
With all the people I'd met at the festival, coupled by not seeing him again for a year (and all the people I prob met in that time), when Ryan and I spoke again the following year I'd forgotten much of our conversations from the previous year. At one point he mentioned the location of my home and my response was one of confusion... "How do you know where I live?" (I was probably getting ready to shout "stalker!" haha ) He reminded me that he walked me home last year, and then it came back to me. Of course by then I'd already presented myself as the paranoid chick who clearly had no recollection of his courtesy and friendship. Eek.
That said, I remembered Ryan quite well from then on. We were in discussions for him to produce a project I was working on at one point, and though he didn't continue to volunteer for much longer, we did keep in touch for some years. I recall him and his roommates threw some stellar Halloween parties. :)
I don't learn from my mistakes though. A year or two later the TIFF Staff & Volunteer Party was at the Liberty Grand, there were shuttle pick ups for us from downtown, but they took forever. After the wait began to get lengthy, there were some rumblings about sharing a cab. I was up for it, as well as one other guy, but the others declined. We didn't wind up getting a cab, I didn't really want to ride alone with some strange guy anyway.
Fast forward to the next year's recruitment sessions. I began chatting with this one shit-disturbing, purposely evasive guy... I don't make him out to sound like a nice guy but he's actually very funny the way he always calls attention to strange details, or purposely redirects questions at you when he doesn't want to answer them himself. His name is Phil and over the years he's become one of my favourite people to shoot the shit with (not that we talk on the phone anymore now that he's finally learned to text).
Anyway, in one of our many conversations over the summer of 2004, the topic of the TIFF 2003 shuttle fiasco did come up... and yep, you guessed it... Phil was the guy that wanted to share the cab.
While keeping company with Phil that year, his friends came to identify me as "that Asian girl that hangs out with Phil". These friends I would get to know much better in the coming years, one of them being Darrin (whom I mentioned in yesterday's Midnight Madness tales). There are photos of Darrin and I together at a party the year before we actually became friends, how odd is that?
[There might be a photo somewhere of Ryan H and I, and the photos of Darrin and I before we knew each other definitely exist, but both require further digging to uncover. I'll put them up when I find them.]
This is Phil and I in 2012.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - MM Love
No one's seen me at a Midnight Madness screening in years - wait, actually that's not true, I go to many MM's, but usually for the second screenings. And I can still be spotted socializing in the ticketholders line before a number of midnight shows.
I don't want to get into a lot of boring detail about lifestyle changes, suffice to say the increasingly late start times of MM screenings and my inability to be out until 3:30am (home at 4am) and then go to work/P&I screening by 9am the next morning has left me parting ways with the MM traditions (for now! Just need to win the lottery and ditch that pesky 9-5 job and I'll be back).
That's not to say I don't have many MANY fond memories. Outside of actual volunteering, I don't think as much teamwork went into anything TIFF-related more than our MM outings. Even in the early days of SMS and other non-voice communication thru cell phones, we would have BB groups, other group chats etc. to coordinate getting tickets, getting to the ticket line early, how many seats to save, how many are in the rush line, and the list goes on...
I guess these are not exclusive to Midnight Madness, we would do this for every film and still do, but this kind of team effort is most evident when there's a large group of us at the same film together, and that was usually at midnight.
Standing in the line catching up with friends, tossing the beach balls around in the theatre (I've made my share of dollar store beach ball purchases, those things don't just materialize out of nowhere), elbowing one another to stay awake, cheering on violence and gore... all part of the "standard" MM experience, but also what makes it one of the greatest programs at TIFF.
We also had a number of special moments over and above those listed in the previous paragraph. Like getting the theatre to sing happy birthday to Darrin the year it was his bday at midnight. Or all the great photo ops with programmer Collin and a number of the MM filmmakers!
My favourite MM movie is probably still SPL (2005 I believe?) with HK legend Sammo Hung and Wu Jing in attendance. The sequel is screening this year, I have no idea whether it'll live up to the original (in action I think it will, not sure about story), but I'm excited to see it all the same.
Another great night was the screening of Chocolate in 2008. My friends and I probably took up the better part of two rows, we sat right up in the front because we like craning our necks that way (I think it was because those were the only two rows we could find in the centre front half of the theatre). Pretty sure I was sitting next to my friend Alex and not far from another buddy Darrin (both of whom I met while volunteering of course... Alex back at Sprockets 2001, Darrin at TIFF 04/05?)
I don't recall the premise, but at some point Colin made a remark about there not being many Asians in the audience, and Darrin (and Jack?) and I protested loudly. Not cool! ;)
Afterwards during the Q&A with director Prachya Pinkaew, Colin had a mini contest - a movie poster for the person who asked the best question. We listened for a while but nothing very original came up, which I figured was key to winning. Finally I was like "I got a good one" and put up my hand.
God bless Alex, he doesn't even ask me what the question is, he just starts waving his hand and pointing to me echoing "she's got a good question!"
I wound up asking Prachya if he would consider casting Colin in a future film and what kind of role would he give Colin?
Nothing super insightful, but it was enough to win me the poster :) I got it autographed by Prachya Pinkaew and still have it. We also got some great pics with him.
I don't want to get into a lot of boring detail about lifestyle changes, suffice to say the increasingly late start times of MM screenings and my inability to be out until 3:30am (home at 4am) and then go to work/P&I screening by 9am the next morning has left me parting ways with the MM traditions (for now! Just need to win the lottery and ditch that pesky 9-5 job and I'll be back).
That's not to say I don't have many MANY fond memories. Outside of actual volunteering, I don't think as much teamwork went into anything TIFF-related more than our MM outings. Even in the early days of SMS and other non-voice communication thru cell phones, we would have BB groups, other group chats etc. to coordinate getting tickets, getting to the ticket line early, how many seats to save, how many are in the rush line, and the list goes on...
I guess these are not exclusive to Midnight Madness, we would do this for every film and still do, but this kind of team effort is most evident when there's a large group of us at the same film together, and that was usually at midnight.
Standing in the line catching up with friends, tossing the beach balls around in the theatre (I've made my share of dollar store beach ball purchases, those things don't just materialize out of nowhere), elbowing one another to stay awake, cheering on violence and gore... all part of the "standard" MM experience, but also what makes it one of the greatest programs at TIFF.
We also had a number of special moments over and above those listed in the previous paragraph. Like getting the theatre to sing happy birthday to Darrin the year it was his bday at midnight. Or all the great photo ops with programmer Collin and a number of the MM filmmakers!
My favourite MM movie is probably still SPL (2005 I believe?) with HK legend Sammo Hung and Wu Jing in attendance. The sequel is screening this year, I have no idea whether it'll live up to the original (in action I think it will, not sure about story), but I'm excited to see it all the same.
Another great night was the screening of Chocolate in 2008. My friends and I probably took up the better part of two rows, we sat right up in the front because we like craning our necks that way (I think it was because those were the only two rows we could find in the centre front half of the theatre). Pretty sure I was sitting next to my friend Alex and not far from another buddy Darrin (both of whom I met while volunteering of course... Alex back at Sprockets 2001, Darrin at TIFF 04/05?)
I don't recall the premise, but at some point Colin made a remark about there not being many Asians in the audience, and Darrin (and Jack?) and I protested loudly. Not cool! ;)
Afterwards during the Q&A with director Prachya Pinkaew, Colin had a mini contest - a movie poster for the person who asked the best question. We listened for a while but nothing very original came up, which I figured was key to winning. Finally I was like "I got a good one" and put up my hand.
God bless Alex, he doesn't even ask me what the question is, he just starts waving his hand and pointing to me echoing "she's got a good question!"
I wound up asking Prachya if he would consider casting Colin in a future film and what kind of role would he give Colin?
Nothing super insightful, but it was enough to win me the poster :) I got it autographed by Prachya Pinkaew and still have it. We also got some great pics with him.
 |
| Prachya Pinkaw in the grey shirt in the middle. |
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - A Day in the Life of a TIFF-er
I talk about my extensive blogging, and I talk about all these crazy random adventures I have at TIFF. Today I'm going to put it all together.
It's partly laziness, partly to prove a point...my friends and I talk about the insanity of the festival, but there's no way to properly convey how nutty/amazing/frantic a day of volunteering and movie-watching can be unless you're there with us - or is there? It would appear that at one point in my life, I sacrificed sleep (look at the time stamp!) to recap in detail some of the things I got up to in a typical day at TIFF - dashing to movies, having private little fan girl moments, socializing with friends, it's all best summed up here by 25 yr old me:
It's partly laziness, partly to prove a point...my friends and I talk about the insanity of the festival, but there's no way to properly convey how nutty/amazing/frantic a day of volunteering and movie-watching can be unless you're there with us - or is there? It would appear that at one point in my life, I sacrificed sleep (look at the time stamp!) to recap in detail some of the things I got up to in a typical day at TIFF - dashing to movies, having private little fan girl moments, socializing with friends, it's all best summed up here by 25 yr old me:
Sunday September 12, 2004 - 2:53 AMAfter I left work yesterday I went to Ryerson to get same day tickets for Creep, but their ticketing system was down and I didn’t have time to line up at College Park’s box office. So it was mad coordination with Tina, she had to come to the Elgin to pick up vouchers to go get us tickets. Poor girl, she had no clue where she was going.It’s always good to be back at the Elgin, most of the same reps are back except Shane :( I show up 10 mins late and find I’ve got two shadow captains (new captains)… uh ok, I’ve never had shadow captains before, but it was fine. The volunteers were a good bunch too :)First film up was Don McKellar’s Childstar, Don McKellar, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and some other talent came. Maggie Cheung (whom I love, and who was Don McKellar’s co-star in Clean) came to see to the film, I wasn’t expecting to see her so it took me a couple of seconds to realize who she was. She’s shorter and has darker skin than I thought. Best part was, limo door opens and it’s Brendan Fehr! He’s tall, in a blue suit, and every bit as hot as he looks on TV! *drool* He steps off the carpet to get someone standing behind me (aka the human barricade) then squeezes past to get back down the carpet.At break time we do a sushi run (it must be noted Sushiman has excellent shrimp tempura sushi) so I’m sitting in the green room tearing a pack of soy sauce when Alex the Captain Liaison appears at the door! I haven’t seen this guy since last year, our schedules have not jived at all and we keep forgetting to email each other. He did leave me a number this time ha haSecond film was Crash, and that was the huge film of the night… like talent galore. so here’s Ada in her dressy platform sandals trying to balance and hold the autograph hounds back as Sandra Bullock steps out of her car. SO many autograph hounds last night, I’m surprised no one hit me with a magazine or clipboard, I probably had blue sharpie in my hair. Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraiser, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Esposito, etc. all came. Matt Dillon looks good, Brendan Fraiser just looked over the hill.While I was standing on the carpet (and this happens all the time with ppl walking by and recognizing me) J.P., a former rep of the varsity walked by! He spotted me first and came up to talk to me, I was surprised he remembered me! We only worked together one year and I’ve only seen him once or twice since. But he’s in a show now that going to be touring China, etc. So it was cool to see him.After the shift was done I called Alex as promised and it turned out he had an extra ticket to the Schmooze party and wanted me to come, but I already had tickets to Creep… I did go meet up with him at 2 Carlton and we went to Mick E. Fynn’s for a beer. I so needed one after that shift I’d just had.I caught up a bit with Alex and then went to change in the washroom of the bar. Ha ha, yeah, I’m just living out of my backpack this week, there’s always one or two changes of clothes and an extra pair of shoes in there at a given time. It’s madness, I know.Went to meet up with Tina to go into Creep. Because I was so late, J was already somewhere inside. We were saying it was going to be impossible to find him, but I tried anyway, and lo and behold, there he was waving to me as I was walking up and down the aisles looking for him! Hence we all go to sit together after all.The movie was a real gorefest, about was lurks in the Tube when you find yourself locked in there after missing the last train. It was pretty great, I was always expecting the worst so I didn’t jump and scream much. It just got really gory and made me cringe. J was trying to be funny by trying to grab my leg to scare me, but he didn’t time it that well, so I just hit him haha. Anyway, it was your typical midnight madness film, Franka Potente was great as usual, there’s just something about her…After the film Tina couldn’t stay for the Q & A, she was concerned about missing her last subway home. She said her good byes and I replied “you’re going to catch the last train? It was nice knowing you Tina!” Hmmm, come to think of it, I haven’t heard from her today…The director was a reasonably young British guy named Christopher Smyth with the wicked British humour, he was pretty nervous, but interesting to listen to nonetheless. All in all, I would recommend this film under the right settings…J and I are walking out of Ryerson and talking when I notice Valesca next to us, so we started talking to her too. She had seen 9 films in two days!! That girl is just hardcore! (I saw her again today actually and today she saw four films)I get home (definitely no party for Ada), watched some of the festival highlights on cable 10 (it’s alarming the number of times I see myself on camera), fall into bed, sleep past my alarm for the 2nd day in a row, and woke up at 9:05am. Eep… I jumped in the shower, threw my dress on and ran out the door. I got back to the Elgin at 9:55am and the reps weren’t even there yet! Some of the volunteers showed up early so we had volunteers there for a while, but no reps. I thought that was funny. Arrisa was the first one there, so we just sat around catching up.Today was much calmer, the only thing that sucked was standing in the heat at the top of the red carpet with the sun beating down on us. We had to wait forever because Jeremy Irons & Joseph Fiennes were soooo late. I don’t even know where Joseph Fiennes’ car stopped, all I see is Hunter escorting them down the sidewalk and onto the carpet.After the shift, I decided to walk up to the College Park box office to say hi to Mel. When I got there, she was talking to J who was there to buy tickets for Dead Birds. So that worked out pretty well. I walked back down Yonge with him when he left. He was meeting Rochelle and then they were going down to line up at RTH for House of Flying Daggers for Mel and I.Over in the RTH rush line, J, Rochelle, and Mel had been given free tickets but they still held my spot for me as I was last to arrive, which was really nice. Eventually some guy gave me a free ticket too!So I saw the film, then went home. Alex had called wanting to do something again, but I was too tired.Ok, time for bed again then back to the Elgin in the morning!
Monday, August 17, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Overnight Line Comradery
I started off these #AdaTIFFmems blogs with a bunch of stories about the overnight line, all outlining specific occurrences/happenings. I may have mentioned the social aspect but I don't think I've properly conveyed the teamwork that goes into this annual urban camping trip.
As the years have gone by and the actual "camping" itself is lasting longer and longer, we've had to become better prepared. However, in many cases we got to be "better prepared" by learning from our mistakes.
Back when I used to join the line in the middle of the night (at the Manulife Centre for those who can remember that far back) I showed up with no more than the program book, pen, paper, and maybe a snack for breakfast. I was also younger then and saw no issue with sitting on the floor for a few hours.
As the length of the wait grew, my tolerance for concrete floors lessened. There were a couple of years when my trusty picnic blanket would provide a few of us with a place to lie down in the wee hours, it's "easy-to-clean" nylon backing also kept me dry the year security kicked us out of College Park and it started to rain (that was easily the most miserable overnight line I ever did).
There were a few other locations we migrated through until the hub of festival activity moved down the city's core and the line-ups were consistently at Metro Centre (which lasted until last year when the volunteer box office got moved to TIFF but that's beside the point)
By this time I'd learned the wonders of the camping chair and wheelie duffel bag. I also own tarps now in the event of rain. Prepared as we are, we still forget some of the most basic human needs sometimes... ie. food, warmth, and washrooms!
Ok, I guess most of us are smart enough to prepare for potential temperature dips in late August/early September. But it's always a gamble whether we'll have access to washrooms at 4am, the supposed 24 hr Tim Hortons, is sometimes not open 24 hrs we've discovered. Thankfully we've had friends who work in the area let us into their buildings in the middle of the night for pee runs. Or during the years we do have access to Tim's, we'll go around taking timbit & coffee orders so we can do ourselves and others a service at the same time.
The first year I had my tablet/ipad (I think it was the tablet) and cellular data, I tried my hand at a little live-blogging from the line. Turns out I'm miserable at live blogging! Anyway...
I'm much better at blogging re-caps though, and I think my entry from 2011 speaks about line-up comradery best: http://blogginginoblivion.blogspot.ca/2011/09/tiff-overnighter-2011.html (actually, as I re-read this entry, I see that this was the year of 3am frisbee as well!) Overall, I think TIFF 2011 was my favourite overnight line-up of them all.
You should read the 2011 article, but for those who don't, I have to especially commend my good friend Chris (better known in some parts of TIFF as "Captain Boy Chris") whom I dubbed as the "overnight line hero" in my entry, here's the except:
In the photo is Hope, sitting in the foreground, and Chris on the right. Hope still remembers this night and how nice it was to get some hot coffee and a sandwich from a fellow volunteer. Captain Boy Chris, we miss you in these TIFF parts and hope you come back one of these years.
This other instance of teamwork probably pales in comparison to Chris' heroics, but as our reliance on electronic devices grew over the years, so did the need for a/c to charge them. One year in line, Marc produced a mile-long (ok, I'm exaggerating, but not by much!) outdoor extension cord and plugged it into the base of a tree! Fine, fine, it was an outlet at the base of a tree in David Pecault Square, which is wired there so that they can plug in holiday lighting in December. Genius! After those of us who lived nearby procured a few more power bars, we were able to keep all our devices fired up through the night! Amazing!
Can't wait to see what urban camping adventures we get up to next! Swing by TIFF Lightbox in the wee hours on Sep 6th (so basically Saturday night) to see us in action.
As the years have gone by and the actual "camping" itself is lasting longer and longer, we've had to become better prepared. However, in many cases we got to be "better prepared" by learning from our mistakes.
Back when I used to join the line in the middle of the night (at the Manulife Centre for those who can remember that far back) I showed up with no more than the program book, pen, paper, and maybe a snack for breakfast. I was also younger then and saw no issue with sitting on the floor for a few hours.
As the length of the wait grew, my tolerance for concrete floors lessened. There were a couple of years when my trusty picnic blanket would provide a few of us with a place to lie down in the wee hours, it's "easy-to-clean" nylon backing also kept me dry the year security kicked us out of College Park and it started to rain (that was easily the most miserable overnight line I ever did).
There were a few other locations we migrated through until the hub of festival activity moved down the city's core and the line-ups were consistently at Metro Centre (which lasted until last year when the volunteer box office got moved to TIFF but that's beside the point)
By this time I'd learned the wonders of the camping chair and wheelie duffel bag. I also own tarps now in the event of rain. Prepared as we are, we still forget some of the most basic human needs sometimes... ie. food, warmth, and washrooms!
Ok, I guess most of us are smart enough to prepare for potential temperature dips in late August/early September. But it's always a gamble whether we'll have access to washrooms at 4am, the supposed 24 hr Tim Hortons, is sometimes not open 24 hrs we've discovered. Thankfully we've had friends who work in the area let us into their buildings in the middle of the night for pee runs. Or during the years we do have access to Tim's, we'll go around taking timbit & coffee orders so we can do ourselves and others a service at the same time.
The first year I had my tablet/ipad (I think it was the tablet) and cellular data, I tried my hand at a little live-blogging from the line. Turns out I'm miserable at live blogging! Anyway...
I'm much better at blogging re-caps though, and I think my entry from 2011 speaks about line-up comradery best: http://blogginginoblivion.blogspot.ca/2011/09/tiff-overnighter-2011.html (actually, as I re-read this entry, I see that this was the year of 3am frisbee as well!) Overall, I think TIFF 2011 was my favourite overnight line-up of them all.
You should read the 2011 article, but for those who don't, I have to especially commend my good friend Chris (better known in some parts of TIFF as "Captain Boy Chris") whom I dubbed as the "overnight line hero" in my entry, here's the except:
...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.
In the photo is Hope, sitting in the foreground, and Chris on the right. Hope still remembers this night and how nice it was to get some hot coffee and a sandwich from a fellow volunteer. Captain Boy Chris, we miss you in these TIFF parts and hope you come back one of these years.
This other instance of teamwork probably pales in comparison to Chris' heroics, but as our reliance on electronic devices grew over the years, so did the need for a/c to charge them. One year in line, Marc produced a mile-long (ok, I'm exaggerating, but not by much!) outdoor extension cord and plugged it into the base of a tree! Fine, fine, it was an outlet at the base of a tree in David Pecault Square, which is wired there so that they can plug in holiday lighting in December. Genius! After those of us who lived nearby procured a few more power bars, we were able to keep all our devices fired up through the night! Amazing!
Can't wait to see what urban camping adventures we get up to next! Swing by TIFF Lightbox in the wee hours on Sep 6th (so basically Saturday night) to see us in action.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - sometimes you can't keep the fans off the celeb, and sometimes you can't keep the celeb off the fans
This is another Elgin story (I know, I know, you're wondering how many stories do I have that are not from the Elgin...?) and one of former volunteer Captain/current FOHA Davor's favourites. When I first mentioned on Facebook that I had to come up with my favourite TIFF stories, he was quick to remind me of the Viggo story. So this one's for you buddy...
Viggo Mortensen's been to the Elgin theatre twice, memory completely fails me now which two films he was here for, but we'll certainly never forget his red carpet appearances.
For his first visit, we had the street pretty secured. Barricades were set up at the median of Yonge St. and fans asked to stand along the opposite sidewalk. Viggo arrived to the expected amount of hoopla, after exchanging a few pleasantries on the carpet and posing for some pics, he decided to heed the call of his fans and took to the street.
Fans cheered louder as he approached. Viggo went to grasp one of the barricades, thinking he could just slide them apart and slip through the barrier, however they are linked a little more securely than that. After a couple attempts, Viggo Mortensen jumps over the barricade in one quick motion, not even messing up his dress shoes or suit, leaving the rest of us (his security detail) ill-equipped to follow.
The female rep who was supposed to escort him struggled with the heavy barricade, and the rest of us tried to relay messages of needing assistance, all the while Viggo signed autographs and took pictures with his fans. Finally our fearless leader David was also able to get over the barricade arrived to accompany Mr. Mortensen and eventually escorted him back.
Years later when we heard Viggo was coming back, we immediately had flashbacks to this incident. This time, after he stepped out of his car, he couldn't even be bothered with the press and carpet, he went straight for the fans again! We were better prepared this go-round, but it just goes to show, you gotta watch out for those celebs who can't keep away from their fans. ;)
Viggo Mortensen's been to the Elgin theatre twice, memory completely fails me now which two films he was here for, but we'll certainly never forget his red carpet appearances.
For his first visit, we had the street pretty secured. Barricades were set up at the median of Yonge St. and fans asked to stand along the opposite sidewalk. Viggo arrived to the expected amount of hoopla, after exchanging a few pleasantries on the carpet and posing for some pics, he decided to heed the call of his fans and took to the street.
Fans cheered louder as he approached. Viggo went to grasp one of the barricades, thinking he could just slide them apart and slip through the barrier, however they are linked a little more securely than that. After a couple attempts, Viggo Mortensen jumps over the barricade in one quick motion, not even messing up his dress shoes or suit, leaving the rest of us (his security detail) ill-equipped to follow.
The female rep who was supposed to escort him struggled with the heavy barricade, and the rest of us tried to relay messages of needing assistance, all the while Viggo signed autographs and took pictures with his fans. Finally our fearless leader David was also able to get over the barricade arrived to accompany Mr. Mortensen and eventually escorted him back.
Years later when we heard Viggo was coming back, we immediately had flashbacks to this incident. This time, after he stepped out of his car, he couldn't even be bothered with the press and carpet, he went straight for the fans again! We were better prepared this go-round, but it just goes to show, you gotta watch out for those celebs who can't keep away from their fans. ;)
Saturday, August 15, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - The Monkey shirt story
As I mentioned yesterday, when I recorded my video for TIFF 40, I shared 2 stories. The video about the Elgin photos is sometimes used at the orientations session. I don't know if they plan to use the latter, which is my story for today.
In addition to being a favourite TIFF memory, it's actually one of my favourite stories to tell period.
In July 2003 I was at a recruitment session at Roy Thomson Hall, I was wearing a t-shirt with a Roman Dirge illustration on it that day, it was a picture of a weird looking monkey that read "I like monkeys (except for this one)".
I was at the Elgin sign-up table when this guy walked up to me and said "I like your t-shirt. I like monkeys too!" and then he rolls up his sleeve and starts showing me his monkey tattoos.
If this guy had come up to me anywhere else, I probably would've started backing away. But, as it turned out, we chatted a little, he told me his name was Michael, and then I lost him in the crowd.
We would later see each other again at the Elgin, where he eventually became a captain as well. We'd cross paths and hang out both at TIFF and outside of the festival, there are so many photos of us at the TIFF parties and the old Elgin parties. After he changed jobs and could no longer volunteer, we still kept in touch, we played pick-up ultimate frisbee, hung out, etc.
It's been 12 years, Mike currently lives in Nova Scotia, but I still consider him a good friend and one of my favourite people. I love how we met, and I love how we still know each other. We've had so many good times, and thanks to technology I can text him like he's still living in High Park (and I do sometimes!) I wouldn't know him at all if it wasn't for TIFF (and that t-shirt).
In addition to being a favourite TIFF memory, it's actually one of my favourite stories to tell period.
In July 2003 I was at a recruitment session at Roy Thomson Hall, I was wearing a t-shirt with a Roman Dirge illustration on it that day, it was a picture of a weird looking monkey that read "I like monkeys (except for this one)".
I was at the Elgin sign-up table when this guy walked up to me and said "I like your t-shirt. I like monkeys too!" and then he rolls up his sleeve and starts showing me his monkey tattoos.
If this guy had come up to me anywhere else, I probably would've started backing away. But, as it turned out, we chatted a little, he told me his name was Michael, and then I lost him in the crowd.
We would later see each other again at the Elgin, where he eventually became a captain as well. We'd cross paths and hang out both at TIFF and outside of the festival, there are so many photos of us at the TIFF parties and the old Elgin parties. After he changed jobs and could no longer volunteer, we still kept in touch, we played pick-up ultimate frisbee, hung out, etc.
It's been 12 years, Mike currently lives in Nova Scotia, but I still consider him a good friend and one of my favourite people. I love how we met, and I love how we still know each other. We've had so many good times, and thanks to technology I can text him like he's still living in High Park (and I do sometimes!) I wouldn't know him at all if it wasn't for TIFF (and that t-shirt).
Oldest photo I have of Michael (from the 2005 Elgin party)
Last photo of us before he moved home (in 2013)
Friday, August 14, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - the Elgin class pictures
This entire 40 memories for the 40 days leading up to TIFF 40 blog project started when the volunteer office invited me to share my favourite memory about volunteering.
I wound up giving them two stories, and this is one of them. This is also the one I share in my video, for those who've seen it at orientation sessions this year.
I've been at the Elgin/Winter Garden for 17 years, it's my second home during TIFF. I've met many MANY a good friend there, we've always had a very high returning rate to the theatre and so that bunch that comes back every festival really feels like a family to me.
When we still signed up for shifts on paper at 'recruitment/orientation session', the returning volunteer sessions were my absolute favorite. I'd man the Elgin table (often with my friend & fellow Elgin volunteer Aimee) and all the familiar faces would come over. The squeals and hugs always made my day (guys, you know it wasn't just the girls, you got in on it too!).
Anyway, with the rise of digital technology, it became easier to take photos together. Which is exactly what we did.
I thought the tradition started in 2006, but yesterday during the search for old photos, I discovered that we actually started taking team photos in 2005.
It began with a small group of volunteers at the end of a shift.
The team photos have become a tradition. I take the photo every year on a random day during the first half of the festival. It was Captain Candy who had the original idea to collage the photos of previous years and display them in the lounge through the festival. She used to create large displays for us every year. My collages are made on a computer and much smaller in scale, but our team photos continue to be displayed every year. Look for them in the Elgin/Winter Garden volunteer lounge.
I wound up giving them two stories, and this is one of them. This is also the one I share in my video, for those who've seen it at orientation sessions this year.
I've been at the Elgin/Winter Garden for 17 years, it's my second home during TIFF. I've met many MANY a good friend there, we've always had a very high returning rate to the theatre and so that bunch that comes back every festival really feels like a family to me.
When we still signed up for shifts on paper at 'recruitment/orientation session', the returning volunteer sessions were my absolute favorite. I'd man the Elgin table (often with my friend & fellow Elgin volunteer Aimee) and all the familiar faces would come over. The squeals and hugs always made my day (guys, you know it wasn't just the girls, you got in on it too!).
Anyway, with the rise of digital technology, it became easier to take photos together. Which is exactly what we did.
I thought the tradition started in 2006, but yesterday during the search for old photos, I discovered that we actually started taking team photos in 2005.
It began with a small group of volunteers at the end of a shift.
I remember it was like pulling teeth trying to get Mike in the photo (he's mostly hidden behind Candy and the volunteer in the burgundy pants), and I didn't even realize Diane was fully hidden (behind Maureen) until I looked at the picture later!
(Elgin Trivia: there are actually 7 captains in this photo, those who've been at the Elgin long enough might remember them - from left to right - Diane, Tammy, Melanie, Candy, Mike, Marguerite, and myself)
Over the years the numbers have grown, with more volunteers each shift, and the addition of the Winter Garden crew. Nowadays it's a challenge to see how many volunteers we can grab when the daytime & evening shifts change over, and then how to cram them into one corner of the lounge to get everyone in the photo.
The team photos have become a tradition. I take the photo every year on a random day during the first half of the festival. It was Captain Candy who had the original idea to collage the photos of previous years and display them in the lounge through the festival. She used to create large displays for us every year. My collages are made on a computer and much smaller in scale, but our team photos continue to be displayed every year. Look for them in the Elgin/Winter Garden volunteer lounge.
[I'm still looking for 2006!]
2007 (Head Rep Johnny front & centre!)
2008
2009
2010 (6 past/present captains in this photo)
2011
2012
2013
2014
Thursday, August 13, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Beware of Sophia Loren fans
Yesterday's story was certainly one of my most harrowing volunteer experiences, but as devoted as Johnny Depp's fans are to him, they are no comparison to Sophia Loren.
In 17 years of volunteering, I have never seen more crazed and determined fans than that of Sophia Loren's.
This is another tale from the early 2000's at the Elgin. I was already captaining by that time, but in those days we had stationary jobs on/near the red carpet. The set up in then included a small autograph hound area right next to the carpet (for those who are familiar with the venue, we had them crammed into an area between the carpet and the gazebo, where the step and repeat is now, opposite the press photographers).
The night Ms. Loren was coming, the autograph bay was packed from early on. Fan of all ages were holding large posters and photos. There were a lot of people trying to cram into a very small area, tempers were starting to flare even before stars began to arrive. One aggressive fan didn't like another fan shoving a poster around in front of him, at one point he ripped the other fan's poster. There was also some shoving in the back, I didn't see it, but heard an uproar that one fan spit on another. We had to get the paid duty cop to standby in the area to keep the crowd under control.
Then... the limo pulls up, Sophia Loren gets out, and it's absolute chaos. Flashbulbs blind us all, the fans start shouting and pushing forward, and the cop has to deal with them.
I'm somewhere near the bottom of the carpet, I see that Sophia Loren has moved to the fan area and towards the first set of doors and the area of the carpet I'm standing is clear. I'm facing the street/pedestrians when I see a short older man in a dark suit, face lit up in joy at the sight of Sophia, jump over the stanchion and go running up the carpet.
We are not to touch patrons or anyone (and I'm all for that) so I hold up my arms as if to signal "stop", and I say as much (not that anyone can hear anything over the roar) but because he has a running start and I'm just standing there, his arm gets caught in mine and he nearly knocks me over. In the entire time he's still just overjoyed shouting Sophia's name as I'm inadvertently pulling him back, at the same time trying to get untangled from him. Thankfully around this time security came up to remove him.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - The time 300 people jaywalked across Yonge St. for Johnny Depp
I haven't told the Johnny Depp story yet!
That's actually how I categorize it in my head, I've told it so many times.
We say it often, how the festival has grown. During any given TIFF, it's not unusual to see Yonge St (Canada's busiest street) closed down between Shuter St. and Queen St. to help facilitate guest arrivals. Barricades are set up to close down traffic both ways on Yonge St. allowing in only designated vehicles, as well barricades are set up along the sidewalk so that pedestrians cannot cross or wander into the private traffic areas. (It's actually quite a production and every year we get a LOT of angry, frustrated pedestrians)
This wasn't always the case, in the early 2000's there was nothing but good manners to keep onlookers standing back. I guess with traffic going both ways on Yonge St. it would only make sense to stand on the west sidewalk across from the Elgin to get a glimpse of the stars (we also used to have an area for the autograph hounds - but again, long gone) as any closer and you'd get hit by a car.
The night Johnny Depp was scheduled to attend, the crowds on the west sidewalk swelled to hundreds of onlookers. We eyed them apprehensively but went on to do our duties as usual. The task at hand was to open up the stanchions and form a human barrier when Mr. Depp's car arrived. That went as planned, Mr. Depp stepped out and gave the crowd a friendly greeting.
Then we see one girl call his name and go running blindly across Yonge St... and 300 people followed.
Thank god they were Torontoians, in many other parts of the world I feel like I would've been trampled. Even then the crowd pressed against us and I recall one woman try to crawl beneath our arms, we asked her to stop or else we'd have to notify the paid duty officer. Luckily she was just caught up in the excitement and quickly complied.
In the years that followed, we began seeing more and more barricades for high profile films.
That's actually how I categorize it in my head, I've told it so many times.
We say it often, how the festival has grown. During any given TIFF, it's not unusual to see Yonge St (Canada's busiest street) closed down between Shuter St. and Queen St. to help facilitate guest arrivals. Barricades are set up to close down traffic both ways on Yonge St. allowing in only designated vehicles, as well barricades are set up along the sidewalk so that pedestrians cannot cross or wander into the private traffic areas. (It's actually quite a production and every year we get a LOT of angry, frustrated pedestrians)
This wasn't always the case, in the early 2000's there was nothing but good manners to keep onlookers standing back. I guess with traffic going both ways on Yonge St. it would only make sense to stand on the west sidewalk across from the Elgin to get a glimpse of the stars (we also used to have an area for the autograph hounds - but again, long gone) as any closer and you'd get hit by a car.
The night Johnny Depp was scheduled to attend, the crowds on the west sidewalk swelled to hundreds of onlookers. We eyed them apprehensively but went on to do our duties as usual. The task at hand was to open up the stanchions and form a human barrier when Mr. Depp's car arrived. That went as planned, Mr. Depp stepped out and gave the crowd a friendly greeting.
Then we see one girl call his name and go running blindly across Yonge St... and 300 people followed.
Thank god they were Torontoians, in many other parts of the world I feel like I would've been trampled. Even then the crowd pressed against us and I recall one woman try to crawl beneath our arms, we asked her to stop or else we'd have to notify the paid duty officer. Luckily she was just caught up in the excitement and quickly complied.
In the years that followed, we began seeing more and more barricades for high profile films.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - When volunteer orientation sessions included improv
As volunteers of the festival, we are expected to adhere to rules & regulations around confidentiality. That said, I feel comfortable (and compliant) with discussing today's memory because none of these practices are still in use.
Once in a while if you run into one of us who have been helping at "Orientation Sessions" or (an even older term) "recruitment sessions" we might start telling you about a time when you had to sign up for shifts on paper, when powerpoint presentations didn't accompany presentations, etc.
For some years, one of the ways to spice up the (then) loooong speeches, was to have volunteer representatives from each of the venues/departments get on stage to give a quick 1-2min speech. It was more like an elevator pitch, to encourage volunteers to sign up for a particular venue/department.
Like a lot of the things then, it was a bit "fly by the seat of your pants". Who gave the venue speeches was dependent on who was volunteering that day, we didn't have guidelines on what to say other than "talk about the venue", so as I mentioned in the title, it was very much like improv.
We often riffed off each other, would jokingly try to "one up" each other, sparking a little friendly competition on stage between venues. Some days these speeches weren't very inspired, or jokes fell flat, but other days there was a good energy, and I like to think generated some excitement for the new volunteers.
It was always a hoot when you had to substitute for a venue you knew nothing about and desperately tried to remember what was said in the previous session's speech.
Some sessions you spoke in front of a crowd of a hundred or less. Then there was the time I stepped on stage at Massey Hall (on my birthday no less), peered out at 300 (or more?) people, and tried to convince them that Elgin was great (ok, fine, that part of the task is easy, but that was the largest crowd I'd ever spoken in front of and I didn't even have notes!)
It's thanks to these impromptu speeches that I feel reasonably comfortable speaking to crowds today.
Once in a while if you run into one of us who have been helping at "Orientation Sessions" or (an even older term) "recruitment sessions" we might start telling you about a time when you had to sign up for shifts on paper, when powerpoint presentations didn't accompany presentations, etc.
For some years, one of the ways to spice up the (then) loooong speeches, was to have volunteer representatives from each of the venues/departments get on stage to give a quick 1-2min speech. It was more like an elevator pitch, to encourage volunteers to sign up for a particular venue/department.
Like a lot of the things then, it was a bit "fly by the seat of your pants". Who gave the venue speeches was dependent on who was volunteering that day, we didn't have guidelines on what to say other than "talk about the venue", so as I mentioned in the title, it was very much like improv.
We often riffed off each other, would jokingly try to "one up" each other, sparking a little friendly competition on stage between venues. Some days these speeches weren't very inspired, or jokes fell flat, but other days there was a good energy, and I like to think generated some excitement for the new volunteers.
It was always a hoot when you had to substitute for a venue you knew nothing about and desperately tried to remember what was said in the previous session's speech.
Some sessions you spoke in front of a crowd of a hundred or less. Then there was the time I stepped on stage at Massey Hall (on my birthday no less), peered out at 300 (or more?) people, and tried to convince them that Elgin was great (ok, fine, that part of the task is easy, but that was the largest crowd I'd ever spoken in front of and I didn't even have notes!)
It's thanks to these impromptu speeches that I feel reasonably comfortable speaking to crowds today.
Monday, August 10, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - WTF moments are best shared with friends
The tales of friendship continue in today's #AdaTIFFmems
I've mentioned my friend and fellow film enthusiast Sachin before in this blog. We've lost track of how many years we've known each other (we tried to figure this out last week and the best we could come up with was "over 10 years"), but we did calculate that 95% of our friendship has been spent in either clubs and raves, or else at TIFF and TIFF-related events. I feel like half the TIFF lingo I use, I created with Sachin.
The other thing Sachin and I seem to share is "What the fuck?" moments.
Along with trying to figure out the duration of our friendship, we also spent some time last week discussing the time we saw The Skin I Live In.
It was the last day TIFF 2011, we had both seen about 25 films each at this point, including many a late night at Midnight Madness (especially Sachin as he is a MM blogger) when we staggered into TIFF Bell Lightbox early in the day for what is indisputably Almodovar's most messed up film.
I don't know if the TIFF sysnopsis didn't allude to the extreme content, or if we both misinterpreted what we read, or what...?
Those who have seen this film hopefully know what I mean. Those who haven't, let's just say for a guy who's known for family & relationship comedies and dramas (some dark, others less so), this is off the charts. It's a psychological... something, and even if I'd been prepared for what I was about to see, I still would have considered it pretty bizarre.
But we weren't prepared! We were extremely sleep deprived, in a highly impressionable state, and thought our brains were going to explode during the movie.
After the credits rolled and the lights came up, Sachin and I kind of looked at each other in a daze, and said "that was not the movie I was expecting to see. What the heck did we just watch?" I remember my brain pretty much stopped functioning after that movie, and it really set a tone to Sachin's day. The movie disturbed us to the very core, so much so that we still remember it vividly to this day.
(We have both since re-watched The Skin I Live In, even when you're mentally prepared it's still a mind-fuck.)
I've mentioned my friend and fellow film enthusiast Sachin before in this blog. We've lost track of how many years we've known each other (we tried to figure this out last week and the best we could come up with was "over 10 years"), but we did calculate that 95% of our friendship has been spent in either clubs and raves, or else at TIFF and TIFF-related events. I feel like half the TIFF lingo I use, I created with Sachin.
The other thing Sachin and I seem to share is "What the fuck?" moments.
Along with trying to figure out the duration of our friendship, we also spent some time last week discussing the time we saw The Skin I Live In.
It was the last day TIFF 2011, we had both seen about 25 films each at this point, including many a late night at Midnight Madness (especially Sachin as he is a MM blogger) when we staggered into TIFF Bell Lightbox early in the day for what is indisputably Almodovar's most messed up film.
I don't know if the TIFF sysnopsis didn't allude to the extreme content, or if we both misinterpreted what we read, or what...?
Those who have seen this film hopefully know what I mean. Those who haven't, let's just say for a guy who's known for family & relationship comedies and dramas (some dark, others less so), this is off the charts. It's a psychological... something, and even if I'd been prepared for what I was about to see, I still would have considered it pretty bizarre.
But we weren't prepared! We were extremely sleep deprived, in a highly impressionable state, and thought our brains were going to explode during the movie.
After the credits rolled and the lights came up, Sachin and I kind of looked at each other in a daze, and said "that was not the movie I was expecting to see. What the heck did we just watch?" I remember my brain pretty much stopped functioning after that movie, and it really set a tone to Sachin's day. The movie disturbed us to the very core, so much so that we still remember it vividly to this day.
(We have both since re-watched The Skin I Live In, even when you're mentally prepared it's still a mind-fuck.)
Sunday, August 9, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - How TIFF helps me keep in touch with old friends
I meet people at TIFF and some of them I connect with once a year at the festival, but I also reconnect with people I know outside of TIFF once a year at the festival.
Sue (Susan) is the mother of a guy I was friends with in high school, his name is Mike and we had a volatile friendship for some years and have been in and out of touch since (currently out of touch). As far as school activities went, we were nerdy band kids, and Sue used to drive us to and from concerts etc. She was really nice to me, and I remember one of the things she used to tell us about was going to the Toronto Film Festival.
I hadn't seen her in a very long time when one year at the Elgin she came up to me and re-introduced herself, she was still religiously attending TIFF after all this time. I'm not going to lie, in a sea of faces, hers never seems to stand out to me, I always fear and fret that I'm rudely walking right by her. But for a period, almost every year I would bump into her somewhere during TIFF.
I haven't seen Sue in the past couple of years, I hope it's not because I've accidentally snubbed her too many times. I'm always hopeful we'll cross paths again.
Another person I can always count on seeing every TIFF is my friend Rick, whom I know from university. With the aide of social media, I have managed to keep track of a number of Ryerson classmates but I confess, considering what a close knit group we were through school, we have not stayed close at all.
Rick and I did see each other after we graduated. He was a karaoke enthusiast who never missed an opportunity to throw an Oscar Party. We kept in touch even when he had to move home to take care of his mother, and after he moved back and pursued his religious studies.
We don't get together for movie trivia anymore, but the celebs are still cause to meet! Rick remains enthralled with his favourite stars and can often be found around the red carpet venues trying to get a glimpse and/or autograph. The past few years I have come out through the stage door of the Elgin to find Rick calling my name. Just like he would a Hollywood celeb ;)
(I thought I had a more recent photo, but perhaps I was mistaken. This is Rick and I in 2009)
Saturday, August 8, 2015
#AdasTIFFmems - The first friend I made at TIFF
I have many celebrity-related stories to share, but I also have a lot of tales of friendship to share.
Some are tales of a particular time and place, some span longer periods of time.
I like to refer to my old friend Eugene as sort of a 'big brother' to me. I actually met him my very first year volunteering where we both helped out at the sign-up sessions. We exchanged emails (that was pretty technologically-advanced of us in '99) and he started sending hellos and checked in a couple times a year to see how I was doing.
We'd see each other during pre-fest, during the festival he captained at the ROM and I at the Elgin. After he stopped volunteering, we became hockey buddies meeting several times a week to catch Leaf games, we became regulars at the neighborhood Shoeless Joe's where the staff knew us by name and had a regular booth reserved for us.
Life doesn't allow us to meet quite as often anymore, but we still exchange SMS's regularly, go to movies, and meet for coffee 16 years later.
[We have a handful of pics together, but Eugene's not the type to appreciate having his photo splashed across the internet so I will refrain from posting]
Some are tales of a particular time and place, some span longer periods of time.
I like to refer to my old friend Eugene as sort of a 'big brother' to me. I actually met him my very first year volunteering where we both helped out at the sign-up sessions. We exchanged emails (that was pretty technologically-advanced of us in '99) and he started sending hellos and checked in a couple times a year to see how I was doing.
We'd see each other during pre-fest, during the festival he captained at the ROM and I at the Elgin. After he stopped volunteering, we became hockey buddies meeting several times a week to catch Leaf games, we became regulars at the neighborhood Shoeless Joe's where the staff knew us by name and had a regular booth reserved for us.
Life doesn't allow us to meet quite as often anymore, but we still exchange SMS's regularly, go to movies, and meet for coffee 16 years later.
[We have a handful of pics together, but Eugene's not the type to appreciate having his photo splashed across the internet so I will refrain from posting]
Friday, August 7, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Hanging out with Adam Goldberg's mom
In 2003 Adam Goldberg wrote and directed a film called "I Love Your Work", bit of a dark comedy from what I remember, something that I caught at the Isabel Bader with cast in attendance.
The following day (or so) the film had its second screening at the Elgin, where I was volunteering in the afternoon, stationed out front of the theatre trying to keep the gazebo area clear so people could come and go from the box office.
A lady, average looking, averagely dressed, was standing in the area I was trying to keep clear. She explained to me that she was Adam Goldberg's mom and asked if she could wait there for the folks with the film, who had her ticket.
Well I'm not about the boot the director's mom, plus she was so nice about it. I almost felt like I should shield her from further questioning by other staff and volunteers. What I did wind up saying to her was that I'd seen her son's film and enjoyed it a lot. In the Q&A at Bader, Goldberg stated that the film was not meant to be autobiographical, but when I mentioned this to his mother, she thought there was a lot more of Adam in the film than he let on.
One of the greatest things about speaking to this lady wasn't that she was a celebrity mom, but that she talked and acted like a regular mom, excited to see her boy's movie. I thought this was adorable.
Eventually the film folk showed up, spotted her immediately, and waved her down the carpet. Alls well that ends well.
The following day (or so) the film had its second screening at the Elgin, where I was volunteering in the afternoon, stationed out front of the theatre trying to keep the gazebo area clear so people could come and go from the box office.
A lady, average looking, averagely dressed, was standing in the area I was trying to keep clear. She explained to me that she was Adam Goldberg's mom and asked if she could wait there for the folks with the film, who had her ticket.
Well I'm not about the boot the director's mom, plus she was so nice about it. I almost felt like I should shield her from further questioning by other staff and volunteers. What I did wind up saying to her was that I'd seen her son's film and enjoyed it a lot. In the Q&A at Bader, Goldberg stated that the film was not meant to be autobiographical, but when I mentioned this to his mother, she thought there was a lot more of Adam in the film than he let on.
One of the greatest things about speaking to this lady wasn't that she was a celebrity mom, but that she talked and acted like a regular mom, excited to see her boy's movie. I thought this was adorable.
Eventually the film folk showed up, spotted her immediately, and waved her down the carpet. Alls well that ends well.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - A little gratitude goes a long way
TIFF isn't just about the celebs, except it is about the celebs. As much as you vehemently deny being a stargazer, you're still going to have those "wow" moments when Jessica Chastain goes zipping past you to sign autographs.
That isn't my story though (even if it did happen twice - 2 yrs in a row).
Recognizing that mega stars see thousands of people in a day and faces are a blur, it's still nice to be on the receiving end of some form of acknowledgement. I can still remember the first and last celebrity that took the time to thank me (both at the Elgin).
The first was Dustin Hoffman. We were doing security on the red carpet, forming a bit of a human blockage to keep the crows back. Mr. Hoffman got out of his car and started up the carpet, I was one of the first volunteers he saw, and he greeted me with a smile and "thank you".
Last year I was at stage door checking on my volunteers, and the crowd out there was thick with onlookers as (I realized too late) Morgan Freeman was due to exit any minute. With security inside and a crowd I had no hope of pushing through outside, I was stuck at the door. As I held it open Mr. Freeman walked through, also taking the time to thank me.
That isn't my story though (even if it did happen twice - 2 yrs in a row).
Recognizing that mega stars see thousands of people in a day and faces are a blur, it's still nice to be on the receiving end of some form of acknowledgement. I can still remember the first and last celebrity that took the time to thank me (both at the Elgin).
The first was Dustin Hoffman. We were doing security on the red carpet, forming a bit of a human blockage to keep the crows back. Mr. Hoffman got out of his car and started up the carpet, I was one of the first volunteers he saw, and he greeted me with a smile and "thank you".
Last year I was at stage door checking on my volunteers, and the crowd out there was thick with onlookers as (I realized too late) Morgan Freeman was due to exit any minute. With security inside and a crowd I had no hope of pushing through outside, I was stuck at the door. As I held it open Mr. Freeman walked through, also taking the time to thank me.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Roasting Marshmallows over the Eternal Flame of Hope
Speaking of crazy stories from the overnight line (see yesterday's #AdaTIFFmems), how about the time we roasted marshmallows over the Eternal Flame of Hope? Simply because it was one of those things we always said we were going to do while waiting in line, and so we finally bit the bullet and did it (and no security came out to stop us).
True story...
True story...
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - The time I played frisbee at 3am
The time mentioned in the subject heading may not be entirely accurate, but this story did take place in the wee hours of morning. As I mentioned in a previous post, you can expect a number of "overnight line" stories and this is one of them.
It was one of the first years that the TIFF Box Office was at Metro Centre, with the line-up snaking along the King St. entrance, around into David Pecault Square Park. If I remember correctly, this is the year Sachin, Jae, Eddy, Brenda, and I were all camped out together.
When we say 'camp out' we don't mean we're stuck in that one spot for 16 hours, we often spot friends joining the line and go talk to them, or make coffee runs etc. I was wandering around the back of the line out of boredom in the middle of the night when I noticed two guys throwing a frisbee around.
This was during a time when I still played pick-up Ultimate Frisbee, so I was eager to join in. I could practice my throws and stretch my legs a bit. The three of us tossed the frisbee around for a while, we did a round of intros after where I learned the two guys didn't know each other either. How cool that three random people waiting to buy movie tickets could have this opportunity.
Hours later after the sun had risen and we had all packed up our gear in anticipation of the box office's opening, I spotted the guy who'd brought the frisbee. "Good luck with your tickets!" I said to him. To which he replied "Oh, I'm not here for tickets."
...?
I went back to my spot and told Sachin what had happened, to which he speculated "Did this guy just happen to walk by David Pecault Square at 3am with a frisbee, or did he pruposely come by with a frisbee knowing that people would be here and might want to play?"
We'll never know.
It was one of the first years that the TIFF Box Office was at Metro Centre, with the line-up snaking along the King St. entrance, around into David Pecault Square Park. If I remember correctly, this is the year Sachin, Jae, Eddy, Brenda, and I were all camped out together.
When we say 'camp out' we don't mean we're stuck in that one spot for 16 hours, we often spot friends joining the line and go talk to them, or make coffee runs etc. I was wandering around the back of the line out of boredom in the middle of the night when I noticed two guys throwing a frisbee around.
This was during a time when I still played pick-up Ultimate Frisbee, so I was eager to join in. I could practice my throws and stretch my legs a bit. The three of us tossed the frisbee around for a while, we did a round of intros after where I learned the two guys didn't know each other either. How cool that three random people waiting to buy movie tickets could have this opportunity.
Hours later after the sun had risen and we had all packed up our gear in anticipation of the box office's opening, I spotted the guy who'd brought the frisbee. "Good luck with your tickets!" I said to him. To which he replied "Oh, I'm not here for tickets."
...?
I went back to my spot and told Sachin what had happened, to which he speculated "Did this guy just happen to walk by David Pecault Square at 3am with a frisbee, or did he pruposely come by with a frisbee knowing that people would be here and might want to play?"
We'll never know.
Monday, August 3, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - Everyone starts somewhere...
Even when you've been doing something for 17 years (I got my start helping out at sign-up sessions as opposed to the festival itself so it has now officially been 17 years) it all had to begin somewhere. For me it was in the spring of 1999.
It's hard to remember a time when I spoke on the phone socially with people other than my very closest friends & family, but once upon a time it was considered a normal social practice to phone acquaintances or friends you weren't so close with just to 'chat'. Believe it or not, I did it too.
Darrin E. was a classmate from high school. We didn't really run in the same circles, but between shared classes and friends of friends, we got on well enough that we'd talk on the phone once in a while. After high school ended a lot of us set off in different paths, I think Darrin did some travelling, and I went to study at Ryerson. In the spring we managed to catch up over the phone, and one of the things he told me he'd done over the past months, was volunteer for the Toronto International Film Festival.
'How cool!' I thought, and asked him for more info. He told me how to send an email to the volunteer manager to sign up...and I guess you could say the rest is history.
I never actually saw or spoke to Darrin again. I guess when I was signing up to volunteer for TIFF, a part of me naively thought "oh, I'll see Darrin there" never really taking into account how I would find one person amongst hundreds (it was hundreds then), and that is if he even did return to volunteer.
Don't get me wrong, we're friends on Facebook, and far as I can tell he's living life and having a good time like many others on my social media feeds. I guess it was a case of people drifting away from each other. I did send him a note on FB once to say thanks, sometimes the smallest gesture or remark can have the greatest impact, without either party realizing until years later.
And while we haven't crossed paths since, I have run into other high school (Solmaz) and elementary school (Diem) classmates in my years volunteering at TIFF. [insert "small world" comment here]
Darrin E. was a classmate from high school. We didn't really run in the same circles, but between shared classes and friends of friends, we got on well enough that we'd talk on the phone once in a while. After high school ended a lot of us set off in different paths, I think Darrin did some travelling, and I went to study at Ryerson. In the spring we managed to catch up over the phone, and one of the things he told me he'd done over the past months, was volunteer for the Toronto International Film Festival.
'How cool!' I thought, and asked him for more info. He told me how to send an email to the volunteer manager to sign up...and I guess you could say the rest is history.
I never actually saw or spoke to Darrin again. I guess when I was signing up to volunteer for TIFF, a part of me naively thought "oh, I'll see Darrin there" never really taking into account how I would find one person amongst hundreds (it was hundreds then), and that is if he even did return to volunteer.
Don't get me wrong, we're friends on Facebook, and far as I can tell he's living life and having a good time like many others on my social media feeds. I guess it was a case of people drifting away from each other. I did send him a note on FB once to say thanks, sometimes the smallest gesture or remark can have the greatest impact, without either party realizing until years later.
And while we haven't crossed paths since, I have run into other high school (Solmaz) and elementary school (Diem) classmates in my years volunteering at TIFF. [insert "small world" comment here]
Sunday, August 2, 2015
#AdaTIFFmems - How we got ourselves into the Pontypool party
After I announced this blog project, my friend Jae brought up today's tale, noting that in addition to my own memories I was also looking for contributions from friends. It so happened this story was already on my list of favourites...I once told it to the Festival Daily newspaper when they were writing profiles on certain volunteers.
Those of us who use volunteer vouchers or buy tickets without a package, we're pretty fervent about being first in line on 'single ticket day'. We make a point to line up early - VERY early. It went from showing up at dawn, to trekking out in the middle of the night, to meeting our friends in line at midnight, to the evening before, to lunchtime the day before. You get the idea. Because we have been lining up overnight for many years now, it's only natural a number of our stories stem from the overnight line, including this one.
One year the Festival Box Office was at Yonge & Dundas (without a doubt the sketchiest location the box office has ever been at), and so Sachin, Jae, and I were sitting in our camping chairs outside on Dundas St. in the early morning when a semi-drunk dude with a broken flip flop, who had just come from the bar, staggers up and joins us in line.
He tells us he's the producer of Bruce McDonald's film Pontypool (really, I thought he was a homeless guy at first glance). They hadn't given him enough tickets to the screening so he had to purchase more. There is a 4 ticket max for each patron, so he was trying to enlist our help, with the promise that he'd invite us to the film's party, which was going to be one block away at the Imperial Pub.
We weren't quite sure what to make of this questionable character, what kind of a producer walks around in broken shoes that you'd normally wear to shower with at the gym, and has a film party at the Imperial? But when the box office opened, he did start handing us wads of cash. So we thought "ok, fine", got him his tickets, not sure if he'd make good on his promise to invite us to the party.
Well he did. We got the date and time from him, showed up to the Imperial Pub with even a few extra friends in tow, and he was at the door to let us all in. Good party from what I recall. All just for indulging the semi-crazy looking guy and buying movie tickets for him! Sweet deal.
Those of us who use volunteer vouchers or buy tickets without a package, we're pretty fervent about being first in line on 'single ticket day'. We make a point to line up early - VERY early. It went from showing up at dawn, to trekking out in the middle of the night, to meeting our friends in line at midnight, to the evening before, to lunchtime the day before. You get the idea. Because we have been lining up overnight for many years now, it's only natural a number of our stories stem from the overnight line, including this one.
One year the Festival Box Office was at Yonge & Dundas (without a doubt the sketchiest location the box office has ever been at), and so Sachin, Jae, and I were sitting in our camping chairs outside on Dundas St. in the early morning when a semi-drunk dude with a broken flip flop, who had just come from the bar, staggers up and joins us in line.
He tells us he's the producer of Bruce McDonald's film Pontypool (really, I thought he was a homeless guy at first glance). They hadn't given him enough tickets to the screening so he had to purchase more. There is a 4 ticket max for each patron, so he was trying to enlist our help, with the promise that he'd invite us to the film's party, which was going to be one block away at the Imperial Pub.We weren't quite sure what to make of this questionable character, what kind of a producer walks around in broken shoes that you'd normally wear to shower with at the gym, and has a film party at the Imperial? But when the box office opened, he did start handing us wads of cash. So we thought "ok, fine", got him his tickets, not sure if he'd make good on his promise to invite us to the party.
Well he did. We got the date and time from him, showed up to the Imperial Pub with even a few extra friends in tow, and he was at the door to let us all in. Good party from what I recall. All just for indulging the semi-crazy looking guy and buying movie tickets for him! Sweet deal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)