Story in the Toronto Star

Yesterday the festival issued a press release on changes to address customer service and Visa Screening Room issues from last year. This is in line with the letter they sent out a few weeks ago to previous festivalgoers that I already commented on:

http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/06/service-changes-for-2009.html
http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/05/2009-festival-ticketing-update.html

Peter Howell, a film critic for The Toronto Star, asked me for comment on the changes in a story published in today's paper:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/655560

Welcome to all Star readers who are visiting here for the first time! I know there will probably be a number of people who will not agree with the price increases, but if you generally assume prices for anything will tend to rise over time, I don't think the changes are completely off the chart. And while not perfect, I think the compromise of opening up more Visa Screening Room screenings back to ticket package holders and guaranteeing at least one non-premium screening addresses the problems last year with the venue. In terms of the additional days available for the advance order process, I still think that came from the lateness of Labour Day this year; it will be interesting to see if the 2010 festival retains the same schedule.

The festival also released the names of some of the films that will be screening at this year's festival:

http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/filmlist/default.aspx

Some important upcoming dates to remember:

July 6, 10am All ticket packages on sale to Visa cardholders
July 13, 10am All ticket packages on sale for Visa, Debit and cash

You do not have to buy ticket packages now; you can also buy individual tickets on September 4, 2009.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff