How Do I Buy Tickets for TIFF 2009? - Part 3

This is the third in a series of posts on how to buy tickets for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This post describes some strategies and considerations for selecting which films to see.

There's no one right way to pick which films to see at the festival; it's a very personal choice based on your own interests and personality. This post provides some different ways you can wrangle the huge number of films into something more manageable that appeals to you.

Ways of Selecting Films

Some of the ways you can focus in on particular films include:

• Director
• Actor
• Writer
• Genre
• Country
• Festival programme
• Festival programmer
• Story, plot, or characters
• Timeslot
• Theatre

Director, actor, and writer are fairly self-explanatory. I've met people who will jump at the chance to see the latest Werner Herzog film, for instance. Others want to see Brad Pitt or Patricia Clarkson.

Some people like to focus on a particular genre or span genres. For example, I usually try to see a dramatic film, a documentary, something comedic, something animated, something character-driven, and something with some action at a minimum (but not necessarily in one single film). I don't generally go out of my way to watch something historical, but I do usually seek out something contemporary.

I also like to see films from a number of different countries. At a minimum, I usually see something from Canada, France, Japan, and Scandinavia. I then usually end up with others from the US, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

For festival programme: the films in the festival are divided up amongst a number of different programmes:

• Canada First!: focuses on new and emerging Canadian filmmakers who are making their first appearance at the festival.
• Canadian Open Vault: features iconic, recently restored Canadian film.
• City to City: new this year, this programme contains films and documentaries focusing on a single city, this year being Tel Aviv.
• Contemporary World Cinema: films from around the world.
• Dialogues: Talking with Pictures: has people in the film industry talking about what films have inspired and influenced them. Last year features Agnes Varda, Terence Davies, Joan Dupont, and Deepa Mehta.
• Discovery: features new and emerging filmmakers from around the world.
• Gala Presentations: high profile Canadian and international films.
• Masters: films by established and renowned filmmakers.
• Mavericks: discussions with people in the film industry. In the past, I've attended panels on Indian cinema, Nick Park discussing Wallace and Gromit, and Larry Charles and Bill Maher talking about Religulous while it was still in production.
• Midnight Madness: films that are outside the normal festival boundaries, such as thrillers, horror, and cult films.
• Real to Reel: documentaries.
• Short Cuts Canada: Canadian short films, all under 50 minutes in length.
• Special Presentations: films with major stars and/or directors from around the world.
• Sprockets Family Zone: children's films.
• Vanguard: films with a younger feel that push social and cultural boundaries.
• Visions: films that stretch the boundaries of conventional cinema, using new techniques, territory, and/or technolgies.
• Wavelengths: experimental film and video art.

There are some people who just want to see everything in the Midnight Madness or Wavelengths programmes, and others who pick and choose from all over (I'm in the latter category). Note that if you bought one of the "You Choose" packages, you can select films from any of the programmes, with some exceptions for the Gala Presentations. Even though there are specific packages for Wavelengths, Midnight Madness, and City to City, you aren't required to have one of those to see the films in those programmes; you can still use your "You Choose" package or buy individual tickets.

Gala Presentations have some restrictions. For anything at Roy Thomson Hall, you have to buy individual tickets, or for the closing film, you can also use the Closing Night Gala package. For anything at the Visa Screening Room, you need a Visa Screening Room package or buy individual tickets; but if you want to see what is termed a "regular" and not a "premium" screening, then you can use your "You Choose" package.

A premium screening is the first public screening of a film at the festival at either Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room (note that first screenings that occur at other theatres are not considered premium), and have one or more of the following characteristics:

• Is a red carpet event
• Is at least a North American premiere
• Has a Q&A with the director or principal cast

Note that not every film premiers at one of these Gala venues. Most films will actually have their premiere at the festival in a non-Gala theatre, and thus will not be considered to be a premium screening. Also, Q&A's are not restricted to galas. A large number of films will have Q&As; all the reviews in this blog that list Q&A notes were from non-Gala/non-premium screenings.

There are separate programmers for each programme in the festival, and those people have become quite well-known over the years to regular festival goers. Each person has their own personality, and over time you can grow to like a particular person's style and choices, and dislike those of others. If you read the description of a film in one of the official sources such as the programme book or the festival website, you'll find that each is written by a different programmer.

Some people will see a film based on the person who programmed it. Some people such as myself find that some programmers' descriptions of the films are more representative than those by others. As such, the programmer and their description of the story, plot, or characters can be a factor for some in selecting films.

Selecting by timeslot can be an alternative if you have limited time to attend the festival. For instance, if you're unlike crazy people like myself who take vacation to attend the festival, then you may only have time during weekday evenings or weekends. As a result, you may end up trying to choose from whatever films happen to be screening on a Tuesday evening.

I have a friend who also occasionally considers the theatre when selecting films. If he finds himself already seeing a number of films in a single theatre (e.g. the Scotiabank or the AMC), he will often schedule in other films in that same theatre to eliminate having to travel from theatre to theatre, especially if there is limited time between movies.

Considerations When Selecting Films

Some things to remember when selecting films:

• Each film usually screens multiple times during the festival. If you can't get into the first screening, try one of the other ones.
• Films may not start or end on time, so build some contingency into your schedule.
• Times in the festival schedule do not include time for Q&A sessions after the film if the director or actors are present, and depending on the film, this can last from 15 to 30 minutes.
• Don't forget to account for travel time between theatres, as some are far apart from one another.
• If you have children, check the film rating before buying a ticket. The Ontario Film Review Board lists the different film classifications and who can get in ( http://www.ofrb.gov.on.ca/english/page6.htm). Note that many films are unrated, and as such, you must be over 18 to attend, and that includes infants and toddlers.
• You are not guaranteed entry if you arrive within 15 minutes of the film start time, and if you are more than 10 minutes late, you definitely won't be let in.
  

Sources for Film Selection

Some valuable sources that can help you decide which film to see are listed below:

• Film listing at the official festival website (http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/filmlist/default.aspx)
• Festival programme book (can be purchased for $32.00)
• TOfilmfest.ca (http://tofilmfest.ca/) has films sliced and diced by title, director, actor, language, country, programme, classification, and review rating, with links to IMDB, trailers, and critical reviews, and the ability to search cinema sources for more information. With a new, clean look-and-feel for this year's fest!
  

Scheduling Your Festival

If you are participating in the Advance Order Process with one of the "You Choose" ticket packages, or just buying individual tickets for multiple films, then choosing films in a given timeslot can make it easier to create your schedule. For example, a friend and I usually attend the festival and see about 60 films between the two of us. We'll see the majority of films together, and some separately depending on our interests. It can get extremely complicated trying to schedule that many films since each screens multiple times on different days.

What we usually do is rank every film in the festival from 1 to 5, with 1 being something we don't want to see at all, 3 is something I could take or leave, and 5 being something I want to see no matter what. We then start with scheduling all the 5's regardless of whether we both want to see the film or not, then 4's that we have in common, then 3's, and then we fill out the rest individually until we've used up all our tickets.

Every time we schedule a particular screening, we try and find one that doesn't conflict with any choices we've already made. Often times a conflict will occur, in which case we have to find a different time for the film, or reschedule something we've already chosen. This can be a very time consuming process; it usually takes my friend and I anywhere up to 8 hours to complete the process. Often times, we will run into a situation where it is impossible to see a film because there are no screenings available that don't conflict with other films we want to see more.

If you are only picking movies for yourself or are seeing 10 or less, this likely won't be a major problem for you. However, you should always consider backups in case your primary choice is sold out. This is true both if you are buying individual tickets or doing the Advance Order Process. It is extremely common for people to go to the box office, try to buy a ticket for a specific film, find out it's sold out, then spend a long time trying to find an alternative movie because they haven't taken the time to figure out what else they might want to see. This has the side effect of tying up the box office and creating long lines, and frustrating every one else. Plus, the longer you take trying to find an alternative choice, the more likely it is that your eventual alternate may be sold out to other people at the box office or buying online. Also note that there is now a $2.50 fee to exchange a ticket, so choose wisely.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

Shinsedai Cinema Festival

If you're in Toronto and looking for a warm-up to TIFF, check out the new Shinsedai Cinema Festival, on next weekend, from Friday, August 21 to Sunday, August 23, 2009. The festival will be held at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre at 6 Garamond Court (just around Wynford Drive and the Don Valley Parkway), and features new, independent Japanese films. There are 12 feature-length films, a number of shorts, a round table discussion on Sunday (which is free), and a number of special guests. I hope to be able to catch a film or two that weekend.

Individual tickets are $12, or you can buy 5 for $50, or 12 for $105.

Check out the festival site for more details: http://shinsedai-fest.com/

Tags: 2009,shinsedai

Additional Galas and Films

More films were announced by the festival today.

Galas include:

• Agora, from Alejandro Amenábar, starring Rachel Weisz (who was at the festival last year with The Brothers Bloom), as Hypatia of Alexandria, an astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher, who is desired by two men; Orestes (Oscar Isaac) and Hypatia's slave Davus (Max Minghella).
• Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, from Jan Kounen, about the rumoured relationship between composer Stravinsky (palyed by Mads Mikkelsen) and fashion designer Coco Chanel (Anna Mouglalis).
• I, Don Giovanni, from Carlos Saura, about Lorenzo da Ponte, a librettist and poet who knew Casanova and worked with Mozart and Salieri.
• Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, from Don Roos, based on the novel of the same name by Ayelet Waldman, with Natalie Portman as a new law school grad struggling to deal with her marriage to her boss, a new stepson, her estranged father, and her husband's ex-wife (Lisa Kudrow).
• The Men Who Stare at Goats, from Grant Heslov, starring Ewan McGregor as a reporter who meets a man (George Clooney) supposedly part of a secret military unit based on psychic powers, led by Jeff Bridges.
• Mother and Child, from Rodrigo Garcia, about the bond between mother and child, starring Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Kerry Washington, along with Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Cherry Jones, and S. Epatha Merkerson.
• Phantom Pain, from Matthias Emcke, about a slacker whose life changes after an accident.

Additional films were announced for the Special Presentations programme:

• Baaria, from Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, Malena), follows Peppino Torrenuova (Francesco Scianna) through the course of his life in a small Sicilian town.
• L'Affaire Farewell, from Christian Carion, about a KGB colonel who turns from his country and offers key information to France, hastening the demise of the USSR.
• The Joneses, from Derrick Borte, with Demi Moore and David Duchovny as a married couple who move to the suburbs and soon become the envy of their neighbours.
• Les Derniers Jours du Monde, from Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu, starring Mathieu Amalric (who has been at the festival before in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2007/09/le-scaphandre-et-le-papillon-diving.html) as a man searching for his lost love while the rest of the planet awaits the end from an approaching global apocalypse.
• My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, from Werner Herzog (who also has Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans screening at the festival this year), looking at the motivations behind an actor, starring in a Greek tragedy, who decides to commit the crime in the play for real.
• The Road, from John Hillcoat, based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Cormac McCarthy, with Viggo Mortensen as man travelling the wastes with his young son (Kodi Smit- McPhee), in a desperate struggle to stay alive in a brutal world. With Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce.
• Road, Movie, from Dev Benegal, about a man who forsakes the family hair oil business in order to travel from town-to-town showing movies.
• A Single Man, from Tom Ford, follows a college professor (Colin Firth) over the course of a day, while he copes with the death of his long-time partner (Matthew Goode). Also stars Julianne Moore. Firth also has Dorian Gray at the festival this year.
• The Traveller, from Ahmed Maher, follows the life of a man from youth to old age, with Omar Sharif.
• The Waiting City, from Claire McCarthy, about a couple (Radha Mitchell, Joel Edgerton) whose marriage is tested as they wait in India for the finalization of their adoption of a baby.
• Wheat, from He Ping, about two soliders from a foreign land who arrive in the enemy kingdom where all the men have left to go to war, and soon convince all the women of the victory of their absent menfolk.
• Youth in Revolt, from Miguel Arteta, with Michael Cera as a boy out to win the heart of a girl (Portia Doubleday), based on the novel by C.D. Payne, with Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Justin Long, Jean Smart, Ari Graynor, Fred Willard, Zach Galifianakis and Mary Kay Place.

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Future Projections Art Projects

The festival announced a number of art projects that will be showcased during the festival as part of its Future Projections programme. It sounds reminiscent of some of the other big art festivals in town like Luminato and Toronto's version of Nuit Blanche.

Highlights include:

• Isabella Rossellini, who's been somewhat of a TIFF fixture over the last few years, especially in her collaborations with Guy Maddin, comes with her own short films in the Green Porno series adapted into sculpture.
• Mark Lewis presents his filmed works that made up Canada's contribution to this year's Venice Biennale, along with other of his works about Toronto.
• A number of works from South-African born, Berlin-based artist Candice Breitz, including an interview and an exhibition at The Power Plant gallery at Toronto's Harbourfront.
• A meditation on film and imagery from cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express, Ashes of Time, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Lady in the Water).
• An installation from Canadian director/actor/writer Don McKellar centered around the cell phone.
• A reworking of Godard's Sympathy for the Devil by Adam Pendleton.
• A live audio/video mashup y Eclectic Method.
• Video art from Jeremy Shaw, Marco Brambilla and Oliver Pietsch projected against the east wall of the new, as yet unfinished Bell Lightbox, future home of TIFF.
• A 30-minute video work centered around street signs from the 140 official neighbourhoods in Toronto from artists Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak.
• Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Syndromes and a Century) presents Phantoms of Nabua, a single channel installation that is presented in conjunction with A Letter to Uncle Boonmee in the Wavelengths programme.
• A video installation from Danish artist Jesper Just on film and the emotions it engenders.

Full details can be found at the official festival web site:

http://www.tiff.net/press?newsId=650

Tags: 2009,events,tiff

City-to-City Programme Announced

New this year to the festival is a special programme called City-to-City. This programme focuses on films that showcase a specific city, this year being Tel Aviv. In addition to individual tickets and ticket packages, you can see these films with the City-to-City ticket package, which gives you a ticket to each of the 10 films in this programme.

Films include:

• Bena, from Niv Klainer, a 2009 film about a father trying to keep his schizophrenic son at home, but who finds his task made more difficult when he takes in a Thai migrant worker.
• Big Dig (Te'alat Blaumilch), from Efraim Kishon, a 1969 farce about one man with a jackhammer that brings the entire city to a halt.
• Big Eyes (Einayim G'dolot), from Uri Zohar, a 1974 film about a basketball coach that needs to decide what he wants out of life.
• The Bubble (Ha-Buah), from Eytan Fox, a 2006 film about young people in Tel Aviv, tinged with politics.
• A History of Israeli Cinema (Historia Shel Hakolnoah Israeli) - Part 1, from Raphaël Nadjari, a documentary covering Israeli film from 1932 to 1978.
• A History of Israeli Cinema (Historia Shel Hakolnoah Israeli) - Part 2, from Raphaël Nadjari, a documentary covering Israeli film from 1978 to now.
• Jaffa (Kalat Hayam), from Keren Yedaya, a 2009 film about the relationship between a young Jewish girl and an Arab boy over the years.
• Kirot (Walls), from Danny Lerner, a 2009 film about an illegal Russian immigrant (Olga Kurylenko) who befriends a woman who lives in the same building. While Kurylenko is best known to western audiences from her starring turn in Quantum of Solace, I first saw her in her acting debut L'annulaire (The Ring Finger) at the festival, back in 2005 (http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2005/09/lannulaire-ring-finger.html), and then a year later in Paris, je t'aime.
• Life According to Agfa, from Assi Dayan, a 1992 film focusing on the patrons of a neighbourhood bar.
• Phobidilia, from Yoav Paz and Doron Paz, a 2009 film about a young man locking himself away in his apartment with his TV and the internet to keep him company.

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Free TIFF Events at Yonge-Dundas Square

The festival announced a number of free events to take place during TIFF from September 10th to 19th. The events will be held at Yonge-Dundas Square, which is an open space on the southeast corner of Yonge St and Dundas St, across from the Eaton Centre and from the AMC theatre. The closest subway stop is Dundas station on the Yonge line.

Events include:

Daily at lunchtimes and some evenings will be the "TIFF In Concert" programme, showing concert and musical films, including Woodstock, Stop Making Sense, Rattle and Hum, The Last Waltz, Don't Look Back, Ziggy Stardust, Shut Up & Sing, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man and The Harder They Come.

Weekdays will be "TIFF Shhh!", which will show silent films including Tillie's Punctured Romance, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, It, Steamboat Bill Jr. and The Busher. The films will be preceded by shorts from the NFB, the City to City programme of the festival, and Canadian music-themed shorts.

Special events at night include:

• Thursday, September 10, starting at 7:00 PM: a live satellite feed from the Opening Night Gala at Roy Thomson Hall, followed by a live set with DJ Champion.
• Friday, September 11 at 6:30 PM: concert featuring the stars of the Canadian rock'n'roll vampire comedy Suck; performers TBA.
• Saturday, September 12 at 2:00 PM: events for the kids, including face-painting, green-screen activity and more.
• Saturday, September 12 at 3:00 PM: The Toronto Zombie Walk: Special Director's Cut Edition, with an appearance by George A. Romero, followed by Night of the Living Dead (1968). I'm thinking you might want to watch the timing of the previous event if your kids are easily scared by hordes of zombies walking around :-)
• Saturday, September 12 at 4:00 PM: Poet and author Sapphire reads in support of the festival showing of the film based on her novel Push, the film appropriately being titled "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire".
• Sunday, September 13 at 4:00 PM: A roller derby exhibition with the Toronto Roller Derby League and stars from the film Whip It (Drew Barrymore's directorial debut).
• Sunday, September 13 at 9:00 PM: a concert with The Topp Twins, New Zealand's top yodelling comedy duo (that's got to be a niche if I ever heard one), hosted by comedienne Elvira Kurt.
• Monday, September 14 at 8:00 PM: Jonathan Demme hosts the North American premiere of The Neil Young Trunk Show, featuring an appearance by Neil Young himself.
• Tuesday, September 15, starting at 7:00 PM: Swing lessons and a live concert by the Kings of Swing in support of the film Hipsters, showing at the festival.
• Thursday, September 17 at 8:00 PM: New York artist Adam Pendleton's BAND repurposes Jean-Luc Godard's Sympathy for the Devil into a contemporary art happening that places the celebrated indie art-rock/post-punk band Deerhoof at the centre of the action.
• Friday, September 18 at 6:00 PM: the world premiere of American Masters - Joan Baez, featuring a short concert by Joan Baez.
• Saturday, September 19, starting at 7:00 PM: The world premiere of Copyright Criminals followed by the Festival Wrap Party. The Festival Wrap Party features the audio/visual mash-ups of Eclectic Method. Special guests include Clyde Stubblefield and others.

Tags: 2009,events,tiff

How Do I Buy Tickets for TIFF 2009? - Part 2

This is the second in a series of posts on how to buy tickets for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This post describes how the Advance Order Procedure works. This post has been updated for the 2009 process.

You can participate in the Advance Order Procedure if you buy one of the following "You Choose" ticket packages:

• 10-ticket Package
• Festival Package
• Festival Package Lite
• Day Package
• Day Package Lite

When you buy one of these packages, you should receive in the mail an Envelope voucher, a Drop Off voucher and a Pick Up voucher, provided you bought before July 31, 2009 (if you didn't you will have to pick them up from the festival box office - note I haven't received vouchers yet in the mail as of August 10 - the festival says to call if you haven't received anything by August 14, assuming you placed an order between July 6 at 10:00 AM and July 31 at 11:59 PM). If you bought a Programme Book, you will also receive a voucher for that as well. The Programme Book is a large book with a detailed description and photo for each film in the festival. It is not necessary to buy this book to complete the Advance Order Procedure, as all the information is available in other formats and on the festival web site, but it is convenient to flip through offline, plus it makes a nice souvenir.

A picture of previous Programme Books is below:

And here's what the book looks like inside:

Starting at 10:00 AM on August 25, 2009, you can go to the main festival box office Nathan Phillips Square to pick up your order form. Note that on the first day there will be a line, and it can take over 45 minutes to get through it, especially if you show up first thing in the morning, so plan your day accordingly. Note you don't actually have to line up first thing on the 25th, as you can pick up your order form at any time after that as long as the completed form is returned before 1:00 PM on August 31, 2009.

If you don't live in Toronto and bought the Out-of-Town Ticket Selection Service, the festival will send everything to you via FedEx, with delivery by 10:30 AM on August 25 (time not guaranteed for remote or rural locations).

If you go to the box office in person to pick up your order, before getting in any line, track down the festival volunteer usually at the head of the line, and verify that the line is the correct one for you to be in (you can identify the volunteers by their headsets or festival t-shirts). The festival doesn't always have someone at the end of the line telling people what the line is for. There will likely be at least two lines; one for order form pickup, and one for people to buy ticket packages or get their vouchers if they didn't receive them in the mail.

Make sure you have your Envelope voucher (and optionally your Programme Book voucher) with you when you go to pick up the order form. You will not be able to get anything without the vouchers. When you get to the front of the line, turn in those vouchers and make sure you receive an order envelope, the Advance Order Book, and a copy of the Official Film Schedule, as you will need all three to complete your order. If you opted not to buy the programme book, then you will need to get yourself a highlighter (the festival won't supply those, you'll have to buy them yourself). The colour of the highlighter is no longer important.

If you did buy a programme book, then *while supplies last*, you will receive a tote bag filled with a number of promotional items and the programme book (and you will get an orange highlighter). Sometimes they run out of tote bags, but you will still receive the programme book no matter what. Check this post (http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/08/2009-programme-book-gift-bag.html) for details on what was in the 2009 tote bag. Regardless of whether you get a tote or not, you still need to make sure you receive an order envelope, the Advance Order Book, and a copy of the Official Film Schedule along with your programme book.

So, the next step is to fill out the order. Make sure you have the following:

1. The Official Film Schedule:

>

2. The Advance Order Book:



3. A highlighter.

Let's consider an example where you want to see the film Whip It on one of the days of the festival, with a couple of friends of yours. The order form looks as follows:

First, write the number of tickets you want in the box labeled "Qty" next to the name of the film. In this example, we want 3 tickets (because it will be yourself plus two friends). This will represent your first choice for this timeslot.

Next, highlight the name of the film with a highlighter. Do NOT highlight the barcode.

Next, find a film around the same time that will be your backup choice if your first choice is already full when they get around to processing your order form. Note this step is optional. If you do not specify a backup film and your first choice is full, you will receive a ticket voucher which you can redeem at a later date for another film at the festival. There is no fee to exchange tickets, provided you are participating in the Advance Order Procedure.

In this example, Crab Trap will be the backup choice. Below the entry for Whip It, in the 6 boxes next to the "2nd", write the 6-character event code for the 2nd choice film. In this case, the event code for Crab Trap is 1321A3 (it's the code next to the film's title). Also write in the name of the backup movie in the "Title" box below the "2nd" boxes. Note that you cannot specify a different number of tickets for the backup; the festival will in this example assume you still want 3 tickets for the 2nd choice. Do not highlight the backup choice or fill in anything in that film's entry.

Your form should look as follows:

Repeat this process until you run out of coupons or choices. For example, if you ordered a 10-ticket Package, and you wanted 2 tickets for each film, you would select 5 1st choice films and optionally, 5 2nd choice backups.

Note the restrictions on your particular package when selecting films, to ensure your order is processed correctly:

• 1o-ticket Package: maximum of 4 tickets per screening. Valid for regular screenings only.
• Festival Package and Festival Lite Package: maximum of 1 ticket per screening. Valid for regular screenings only.
• Day Package and Day Package Lite: maximum of 1 ticket per screening. Valid for regular screenings that start before 5:01 PM only.

Note the term "regular screenings"; this is new for 2009. The main thing to note here is that "premium screenings" are generally the first showing of a film at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening room. Roy Thomson Hall never has subsequent screenings, but the Visa Screening Room, and those subsequent screenings (may) be deemed regular screenings, which could then be picked in the Advance Order Process. Do not attempt to select premium screenings in your order, as the festival will likely just void that particular choice out and give you a voucher instead.

I don't know yet how these will be indicated in the schedule. I'm asking the festival for clarification on this point, since the book seems to list screenings that might be premium. UPDATE: read the comments at the end of this post for an update from Tess. UPDATE 2: Parabola heard something different from fest staff - see comments below. May be safest at this point to avoid first screenings at the Visa Screening Room until festival can clarify. UPDATE 3: the festival has officially confirmed that the Advance Order Book erroneously contains Premium screenings. If you pick one of these, they will attempt to honour the selection, but note Premium screenings have less advance order tickets available, so if you end up in the latter part of the draw your odds of getting tickets will be smaller (official response can be found here: http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/08/update-on-premium-screenings.html)

You can place all your choices in a single Advance Order Book, regardless of how many passes or packages you bought. If you bought 3 10-ticket Packages, then all 30 1st choices and all 30 2nd choices can go in the same book.

For any tickets that you choose not to use in the advance order process, or any choices that can't be filled because the film is sold out, you will receive vouchers that you can use towards other films with availability. You can do this alternate selection on September 3 when you pick up your completed order, or during the festival itself.

When selecting films, don't forget to account for the following:

• Films may not start or end on time.
• Times in the schedule do not include time for Q&A sessions after the film if the director or actors are present.
• You should account for travel time between theatres, as some are far apart from one another.

Once you have finished picking your films and filling out the Advance Order Book, ensure you fill out the "Ticket Order Form" information at the bottom of page 3 of the Advance Order Book. If you want the festival to call you in the event of any difficulties regardless of the time of day or night, you could place a note on the form, but that's not a guarantee the festival will call. Note they process orders around the clock, so they could call you in the middle of the night if you so note.

Once you have filled out that information, place the completed Advance Order Book in the envelope you received when you picked up your form:



Fill out the "Total Number of Tickets Requested in this order" box at the top right of the envelope. If you have 3 10-film packages, then you would write 30 in this box.

Fill out the contact information on the envelope. If you include an e-mail address, then the festival should notify you by e-mail which of your choices were filled and which were not when they have finished processing your order. If you bought the package for someone else, ensure their name is also included on the form in the spot provided.

Take the Drop Off Voucher that you should have received in the mail a while ago and place it in the envelope window. Do NOT include the Pick Up Voucher; you need to keep that to pick up your completed order starting September 3, 2009 at 7:00 AM at the festival box office.

Do NOT seal the envelope; leave the flap open or tuck it in, but do not seal it.

If you have a Festival or Day Package, then you submit one envelope per Package, even if you filled out multiple order books. If you bought multiple 10-ticket Packages under your name in one order/transaction, then you will submit one envelope for all the packages. Basically, you should have one envelope per Drop Off Voucher that you have.

Drop off the envelope at the festival box office before 1:00 PM on August 31, 2009. If you do not turn in your envelope by 1:00 PM, then you will miss the lottery, and your form will be processed after everyone else's.

The festival staff then spends the time from the 31st to the 2nd processing orders. You can then line up at the festival box office any time from September 3 at 7:00 AM onwards to pick up your completed forms and see what movies you received. Take your Pick Up vouchers with you to exchange them for your processed orders. If you receive an e-mail from the festival saying you got all your choices, then I would recommend that you do NOT show up first thing in the morning, as there will be long wait (Shannon the Movie Moxie spent 6-1/2 hours in line in 2007 to get her orders and make alternate selections). If you didn't receive all your picks, then you should line up in the morning, as you will receive ticket vouchers in place of your missed picks. You can then move to another line to immediately use those vouchers to pick other films that are still available; alternatively, you can wait to use those vouchers during the festival.

Now, why don't you need to speed through getting your Advance Order Book completed as soon as possible? Because the festival has a lottery system to determine from what point they start processing orders. Therefore, there is no inherent benefit to getting your order forms returned early. Here's how the system works:

1. The festival starts with a whole bunch of empty boxes, numbered sequentially.



2. As people turn in their order forms, the forms are placed in the lowest numbered box that has room:



Here we can see completed forms being placed in box #1.

3. Once a box is full, forms are placed in the next available box, in this case box #2:



4. And once that box is full, they move to the next one, in this case box #3:



5. Once all forms have been received by the deadline, the festival has a bunch of filled, numbered boxes:



6. They then randomly draw a number from 1 to whatever the highest number box they have, in this example, 80. The number drawn represents the box number from which the festival starts processing orders. Assume for this example that 33 was the number drawn:



The festival starts processing the forms in box #33. Once they have processed all the forms in the box, they move to the next one in numerical order, in this case #34. They continue until they reach the highest numbered box, here #80. Once they finish with that box, they loop back around to box #1 and start moving upwards, until they reach the box one number before the one drawn (#32). The festival usually sends e-mails out letting you know which of your choices you have gotten.

At this point, all advanced orders have been processed and will be ready for pickup. In this example, if you were lucky enough to be in box #33, you would've gotten all your picks. But if you were in box #32, you probably won't get a lot of your picks. In that case, for each pick that wasn't fulfilled you typically receive a voucher which you can use to select a film from whatever still has tickets available. You can use vouchers coupons any time during the duration of the festival.

Festival patrons that donated at least $250 to the festival get processed before the other boxes mentioned above. And even amongst donors, the ones who contributed more money get priority over other donors.

Just for interest, the graph below gives you an idea of when people submitted their order forms in 2006:



The bulk seemed to drop their forms off in the final three hours or so before the deadline. In 2007, box 66 out of 75 was randomly drawn as the starting point. My friend and I had forms in boxes 21 and 49, and we didn't get only 3 out of the 60 films we selected (but then we didn't pick many big name films).

The next post in this series will talk about some of the different ways people pick the films they want to see, and some considerations around scheduling. The post after that will discuss what you actually do during the festival when you get to your screening, along with options if you couldn't get tickets in advance.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

How Do I Buy Tickets for TIFF 2009? - Part 1

This is the first in a series of posts on how to buy tickets for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This post provides some tips on how to decide what type of tickets to buy, and when you can buy them.

The flowchart below provides a simplified decision-making process you can use (click the image to see a larger version).

1. The first question to ask yourself is how many movies you want to see. If you want to see just one or two films, then your best bet is to buy individual tickets when they go on sale on September 4, 2009.
   
2. If you want to see 3 or more films, then next question to ask if whether you want to pick the films to see. If you don't want to pick, or you want to see *all* the films in a particular programme (specifically Visa Screening Room galas, Midnight Madness cult films, or Wavelengths avant-garde films), then you can select one of the "Our Programmers Choose" packages. These packages can be bought as of July 6, 2009.
   
   In these packages you either get tickets to all the showings in a particular programme (e.g. Midnight Madness), or the festival programmers pre-select films for you. The latter type of package is good if you want to see a variety of things but aren't really sure what to pick. Note that some of the packages give you screenings in a particular time period (i.e. weekends or evenings, so you won't get tickets for movies in the middle of the afternoon when you're at work).
   
3. If you want to select your own films rather than let the festival pick for you, the next question to ask is how many tickets you need. If you want to see 10 films by yourself, then you need 10 tickets. If you want to see 3 films with a friend, then you need 6 tickets. If you need 10, 15, 25, 30, or 50 tickets, then you can purchase a "You Choose" ticket package. These packages can be bought as of July 6, 2009.
   
   If you need less than 10 tickets, then you should buy individual tickets when they go on sale September 4, 2009.
   
4. If you buy one of the "You Choose" packages, starting August 25, 2009, you will be able to fill out a paper form specifying your movie choices. This form has to be returned to the festival before 1:00 PM on August 31, 2009. After that time, the festival does a draw to determine where they start processing these Advance Orders. You can pick up your tickets starting September 3, 2009 at 7:00 AM.
   
   Note that you are not guaranteed to get all the movies you specify on an advance order form. If you don't get one of your choices because all the tickets have already been allocated, then you will receive a voucher than you can use from September 3 onward to pick a different film.
   
   The Advance Order process is a bit complicated to explain, so a future post will explain the process in more detail.
   
5. Regardless of how you got your tickets, the festival starts on September 10, 2009. You can continue to buy individual tickets during the festival.

Some commonly asked questions are answered below. This post will be updated with other questions as they arise.

Q: If I'm not guaranteed to get the movies I want in the Advance Order Process with the "You Choose" packages, why should I bother getting it?
A: While you aren't guaranteed to get your choices, you still likely have a better shot at getting them than you do once individual tickets go on sale.

Q: If a screening of a film sells out in the Advance Order Process, does that mean there won't be any individual tickets for it starting on September 4?
A: No, the festival usually does *not* allocate all the seats in a screening to advance orders, they usually save out some to go on sale later.

Q: Where and when can I buy tickets?
A: You can buy tickets any time online at http://www.tiff.net/, by phone Monday to Friday 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM at 1-877-968-FILM or 416-968-FILM, or in person at 100 Queen Street West (the white tent on the west side of Nathan Phillips Square) Monday to Sunday 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

Q: How can I pay for tickets?
A: You can pay by cash, debit, or Visa. Note that Visa is the only credit card accepted by the festival, as Visa is a major sponsor.

Q: What time will the movies be screened?
A: It is important to note that festival screens occur all day, from 9:00 AM in the morning until 2:00 AM at night. If you are buying a package, make special note of this. Some packages specify that all the tickets you get will be in the daytime, or in the evening, or on weekends. If it doesn't specify, then assume the screenings could occur at any time. If you aren't taking time off work, then this could be a problem for you.

Q: How many times is a given movie shown?
A: A given movie is shown multiple times during the festival (usually two or more screenings). Note that some films, especially in programmes like Wavelengths, Short Cuts and Mavericks, may air only once, but most feature-length films will have multiple showings.

Q: Can I see a gala film with my package?
A: It depends. A gala film will usually have its first and possibly other screenings at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room. You can only see the screenings in those venues if you either buy individual tickets after September 4, have a Visa Screening Room package, the Double Date Gala package, or the Roy Thomson Hall Closing Night Film and Cocktail package. However, gala films should all have at least one screening not in Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room, and those screenings can be selected with the other packages (like the 10-ticket package or the Festival package). But make sure you pick the right screening when you do your advance order form, otherwise the festival will void that choice.

Q: I really want to see this one film, but I couldn't get it in with one of the packages, and it was sold out when individual tickets went on sale. What do I do?
A: If a screening for a film sells out, first see if there are any tickets available at other times for that film. Picking a screening other than the first one, or one that occurs during the day when most people are at work, may yield better results. If you still can't get tickets, try going to the box office at the particular theatre showing the movie, the morning of the day with the desired screening. You may be able to get same-day tickets. If there aren't any of those, you can join the Rush Line outside the theatre. If any ticket holders fail to show, people in the Rush Line get first crack at those tickets.

Q: I live out of town and want to buy tickets.
A: If you live outside of Toronto, you have a few options. 1) Buy individual tickets when you arrive for the festival; 2) buy a "Our Programmers Choose" package; 3) buy a "You Choose" package and also purchase the Out-of-Town Ticket Selection Service. With this service, the festival will courier you the Advance Order form and schedule when they are released, and provide you with a return FedEx envelope to send your order back. Note that out-of-town bloggers report mixed experiences with this service, but there's not much of an alternative.

Q: If I buy multiple Festival Experience packages, are they all guaranteed to get tickets to the same films?
A: No. There are different ticket allotments for these types of packages, so if you order at different times (e.g. days or weeks apart), you may very well end up with different sets of films. However, if you buy all your packages at the same time, you should end up with the same films.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

18 New Films Announced

The festival announced another 18 films today.

In the Contemporary World Cinema Programme:

• Beyond the Circle, from Golam Rabbany Biplob, about a musician from a small village who gets swept up in the city life in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Blessed, from Ana Kokkinos, about seven lost children who wander for a day and a night while their mothers worry at home. Stars Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings), Frances O'Connor (A.I.), and Deborra-Lee Furness (Jindabyne). Interestingly, Otto and O'Connor worked together on Cashmere Mafia, and O'Connor and Furness were both in an episode of Halifax f.p in 1994. Kokkinos was previously at the festival with the somewhat controversial The Book of Revelation.
• Down for Life, from Alan Jacobs, based on a story in the New York Times about a teenage girl gang leader who tries to escape her life.
• Giulia Doesn't Date at Night, from Giuseppe Piccioni, about a novelist who asks out his daughter's swimming instructor, only to find out she's under a curfew after being convicted of a crime of passion.
• Heiran, from Shalizeh Arefpour, about a young Iranian girl who falls in love with an Afghani student, much to the dismay of her family.
• The House of Branching Love, from Mika Kaurismäki, about a married couple that try and fail to have a clean and civilized divorce.
• Rabia, from Sebastián Cordero, about a man on the run from the law hiding out in the house in which his girlfriend works as a housekeeper.
• Sawasdee Bangkok, from Wisit Sasanatieng, Aditya Assarat, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee and Pen-ek Ratanaruang. Each directs a different story set in Bangkok. Sasanatieng was previously at the festival with Citizen Dog (Mah nakorn), Assarat with 3 Friends (Ma-Mee), and Ratanaruang with Invisible Waves.
• Shameless (Nestyda), from Jan Hrebejk. A comedy about love and marriage and sex inspired by stories from Czech writer Michal Viewegh's book Povídky o manželství a sexu (Tales of Marriage and Sex).
• Slovenian Girl (Slovenka), from Damjan Kozole, about a girl in university prostituting herself in the classifieds, drawing her into a very dark world.
• Tanner Hall, the writing and directorial debut of Francesca Gregorini and Tatiana von Furstenberg, about four girls in a New England boarding school. Stars Rooney Mara, Georgia King (Little Dorrit), Brie Larson (United States of Tara), Amy Ferguson, Tom Everett Scott, Chris Kattan, and Amy Sedaris.

In the Visions programme:

• Between Two Worlds, from Vimukthi Jayasundara, about a young man that flees the city for a small village steeped in legend.
• Gaia, from Jason Lehel, about a woman left for dead in the desert, who must face her past and take control of her life.
• Hiroshima, from Pablo Stoll, follows Juan, a singer who works in a bakery by night, of the course of his day.
• I Am Love (Io sono l'amore), from Luca Guadagnino, stars Tilda Swinton as a woman who has an affair with her son's best friend. Guadagnino did a documentary with Swinton back in 2002 (Tilda Swinton - The Love Factory) as part of The Love Factory series, talking to her about cinema and love.
• Lebanon, from Samuel Maoz, about a tank crew during the 1982 Lebanon War.
• To the Sea, from Pedro González-Rubio, about a Mexican man and his half-Italian son who travel to the second-largest coral reef in the world before they part. González-Rubio was previously at the festival with the documentary Toro Negro.
• Trash Humpers, from Harmony Korine (Gummo), about "a loser-gang cult-freak collective who do antisocial things in a nonnarrative way, except for the song-and-dance numbers".

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Box Office Update

As of August 5, 2009, the following packages are sold out on the festival online box office:

• Day Package Lite
• Student Card for Friday, September 11
• Student Card for Saturday, September 12
• Student Card for Sunday, September 13
• Student Card for Friday, September 18
• Student Card for Saturday, September 19
• Visa Screening Room 2-Day Package
• Visa Screening Room Weekend Evening Package
• Visa Screening Room Mid-Festival Package
• Double Date Gala Package

Still available:

• 10-ticket Package *
• Festival Package *
• Festival Package Lite *
• Day Package *
• Student Card for Monday, September 14 through to Thursday, September 17
• Sutton 2-Day Package
• Sutton 3-Day Package
• 6:00 PM Visa Screening Room Evening Package
• 9:00 PM Visa Screening Room Evening Package
• Visa Screening Room 3-Day Package
• City to City Package
• Wavelengths Package
• Midnight Madness Package
• Globetrotter Weekend/Evening Package
• Globetrotter Daytime Package
• Festival Experience Evening/Weekend Package
• Festival Experience Daytime Package
• Roy Thomson Hall Closing Night Film and Cocktail

Any of the available packages marked by a * above (the so-called You Choose packages) should be purchased before August 31 at 1:00 PM, as that is the cutoff for submitting orders for the Advance Order Process. All other packages (the Our Programmers Choose packages) can continue to be purchased at any time, since the festival pre-selects films for you.

You do not have to buy a ticket package. Single tickets go on sale as of 7:00 AM on September 4. At that point in time you will be able to purchase tickets for all screenings.

If you need help deciding how you should buy tickets, consider the following:

• The Our Programmers Choose packages are good if you want to see multiple films, but can't or don't want to go to the trouble of picking the films yourself.
• The Midnight Madness and Wavelengths packages are good if you are a fan of those particular types of films.
• The You Choose packages are good if you want to see multiple films and want to see specific ones, or just like the freedom to choose your own. These packages also potentially give you a better chance of seeing popular films, as you get to participate in the Advance Order Process. However, that process is not a guarantee that you will receive everything you ask for. Subsequent posts this month will explain how that process works in more detail.
• Buying tickets after September 4th is good if you just want to catch the odd film or two when you have the chance, or if you've never been to the festival before and just want to ease your way in.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

Canadian Films Announced

The festival issued a torrent of releases today highlighting the Canadian content present at this year's festival, which are summarized below.

In the Canada First! programme:

• Year of the Carnivore, from Sook-Yin Lee. A romantic dramedy about a girl who decides to get more sexual experience to win the boy of her dreams who thinks she's bad in bed. Lee doesn't act in the film, so unlike previous years with Shortbus and Toronto Stories, we won't see her naked this year (probably much to the relief of her bosses at the CBC).
• All Fall Down, from Philip Hoffman. A documentary that looks at the last years of Toronto writer George Lachlan Brown.
• Crackie, from Sherry White. About a woman who dreams of getting out from under her domineering grandmother (Maritime stalwart Mary Walsh).
• George Ryga’s HUNGRY HILLS from Rob King. Adaptation of the Canadian playwright's (I studied The Ecstasy of Rita Joe in university) 1963 work Hungry Hills, about a Alberta family trying to survive through the Great Depression.
• Machotaildrop, from Corey Adams and Alex Craig. Follows a teenage skateboarder as he is groomed to be the next big star.
• The Wild Hunt, from Alexandre Franchi. An ancient ritual conducted in the woods north of Montreal leads to a meeting of reality and fantasy.

Galas include:

• Chloe, from Atom Egoyan. Julianne Moore plays a doctor who hires a young woman (Amanda Seyfried) to test her husband's (Liam Neeson) fidelity.
• Cooking with Stella, from Dilip Mehta (brother of Deepa Mehta). About a Canadian diplomat and her husband (Lisa Ray and Don McKellar) who move to New Delhi, and their new cook.
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, from Terry Gilliam. The last film of Heath Ledger, which director Gilliam needed to creatively adjust following Ledger's death, with the help of actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law.

In the Special Presentations programme:

• Cairo Time, from Ruba Nadda. Follows a woman (Patricia Clarkson), who comes to Cairo to be with her husband, but when he is delayed, ends up exploring the city and culture with his friend (Alexander Siddig), and soon finds herself drawn to him.
• Defendor, from Peter Stebbings. Stars Woody Harrelson as a man who by night becomes superhero Defendor, determined to defend the city against Captain Industry, a criminal he holds responsible for the death of his mother. Also stars Kat Dennings as a prostitute who Defendor befriends along the way.
• Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel, from Brigitte Berman. A documentary about the founder of Playboy and the battles that he fought along the way.
• J’ai Tué Ma Mère, from Xavier Dolan, about a teenager and his love/hate relationship with his own mother.
• The Trotsky, from Jacob Tierney, with Jay Baruchel as a teenager that is the supposed reincarnation of Leon Trotsky.

In the Vanguard programme:

• Carcasses, from Denis Côté, about an old man living his days out in a junkyard.
• Leslie, My Name Is Evil, from Reginald Harkema, about a chemist who falls in love with the defendant in a hippie, death-cult murder trial.

In the Real to Reel (documentary) programme:

• Glenn Gould: The Inner Life, from Peter Raymont and Michele Hozer, about the famous Canadian pianist.
• Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands, from Peter Mettler, about the Alberta tar sands. Mettler was cinematographer for Jennifer Baichwal's documentary Manufactured Landscapes, about the industrial photography of Edward Burtynsky.
• Reel Injun, from Neil Diamond, looking at native stereotypes in Hollywood films, with interviews with Wes Studi, Adam Beach and Sacheen Littlefeather.

In Contemporary World Cinema:

• A Gun to the Head, from Blaine Thurier, about an ex-criminal drawn back to the dark side in one fateful night.
• Cole, from Carl Bessai, about a man who yearns to escape his small town life through his writing and with another student from his creative writing class.
• Excited, from Bruce Sweeney (American Venus), a romantic comedy about a man whose quest for the perfect woman is complicated by his mother and his various sexual hangups.
• High Life, from Gary Yates (Niagara Motel), about two brothers searching for that one last big score.
• Passenger Side, from Matthew Bissonnette, two brothers discuss their love lives while crusing around Los Angeles.
• Suck, from Robert Stefaniuk, about a band that suddenly finds success when their bass player falls in with a vampire. With cameos from Alice Cooper, Alex Lifeson from Rush, Moby, Iggy Pop, Carole Pope and Henry Rollins.

In the Masters programme:

• La Donation, from Bernard Émond (20h17 rue Darling, The Necessities of Life), about a big city doctor who travels to a small town to temporarily relieve its aging doctor and soon faces a choice about her future.

In the Sprockets Family Zone programme:

• A Shine of Rainbows, from Vic Sarin, set around Ireland and about a woman who helps an young orphan boy.

In Short Cuts Canada, which features short films, the complete listing can be found here:

• http://tiffg.ca/mediacentre/viewrelease.aspx?recordId=646

The festival announced juried awards for Canadian films, including:

• The City of Toronto and Astral Media's The Movie Network Award for Best Canadian Feature Film (and longest award title), with a cash prize of $30,000.
• The SKYY Vodka Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film, with a cash prize of $15,000.
• The Award for Best Canadian Short Film, supported by the NFB, with a cash prize of $10,000 cash prize.

All three awards are selected by a jury consisting of:

• Jerry Ciccoritti, who's directorial resume reads like a history of modern Canadian TV (everything from Sweating Bullets, to Due South, Nikita, Trudeau, ReGenesis, Lives of the Saints, and Shania: A Life in Eight Albums).
• Sean Farnel, director of programming for Hot Docs.
• Kerri Sakamoto, a Canadian novelist (The Electrical Field)
• Peter Lynch, director of Project Grizzly, as well as Cyberman.

The short film jury members are:

• Director, cinematographer and editor Shane Smith (The Countdown).
• Producer Ingrid Veninger.
• Screenwriter Shane Belcourt.

The Canadian Open Vault, which features classic Canadian films, this year is screening:

• William Beaudine’s Sparrows, with Mary Pickford.
• A new print of Atom Egoyan’s The Adjuster.

There will be special events during the festival to tie into Toronto's 175th anniversary as a city.

To summarize, not counting the Open Vault presentations, this year the festival will have 27 Canadian features (up from 25 last year), and 41 Canadian short films (up from 38 last year).

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Closing Gala Announced

The festival announced today that The Young Victoria, from French-Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée (who was previously at the festival with his film C.R.A.Z.Y.), will be the closing film of the festival. With a script from Julian Fellowes (who won the Oscar for best original screenplay for Gosford Park in 2002), The Young Victoria is about the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. The movie stars Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany (who will be opening the festival with the film Creation), Miranda Richardson, and Jim Broadbent, and amongst its co-producers counts Martin Scorsese and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.

In addition to normal tickets, there is a special ticket package available for the Closing gala. The
Roy Thomson Hall Closing Night Film and Cocktail package is $180.25 per person (no discounts for students or seniors) and includes a ticket for the film as well as an after party. However, note that it is balcony seating, and there is no guarantee of celebrity attendance (I'm assuming that technically covers both the film and the after party, but more so the latter).

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

More Films Announced

The festival released the names of 8 more films, 4 in the Gala programme, and 4 in Special Presentations.

Galas include:

• The Damned United, from Tom Hooper, with Michael Sheen as Brian Clough, who took over as manager of the Leeds United football team for a short time during the 70's.
• Dil Bole Hadippa, from Anurag Singh, with Rani Mukherjee as a girl who masquerades as a man to join a male-only cricket team in her village.
• Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot), from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a "fantastical comedy" in which a group of friends conspire to bring down two arms manufacturers.
• What's Your Raashee?, from Ashutosh Gowariker based on the novel Kimball Ravenswood, follows a man who has 10 days to find a girl to marry in order to save his family from ruin.

In Special Presentations:

• The Good Heart, from Dagur Kári, about a bar owner (Brian Cox), who takes a homeless boy under his wing.
• The Hole, from Joe Dante, about two brothers (Chris Massoglia and Nathan Gamble) and their neighbour (Hayley Bennett) who find a bottomless hole in the boys' basement. Also stars Teri Polo and Bruce Dern.
• Soul Kitchen, from Fatih Akin, about a restaurant owner struggling with keeping his place alive and his long-distance girlfiend.
• Up in the Air, a comedy from Jason Reitman (Juno), starring George Clooney as a jet-setting downsizing expert.
  

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Additional Galas and Special Presentation Films

The festival announced additional films today for the Gala and Special Presentation programmes.

The new galas are:

• Dorian Gray, an adaptation of the Oscar Wilde novel from director Oliver Parker and starring Ben Barnes and Colin Firth.
• The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, with Rebecca Miller directing from her own novel, starring Robin Wright Penn as a wife and mother whose life is challenged after she moves to a retirement community with her much older husband (Alan Arkin).

In the Special Presentations programme, new films include:

• Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, from Werner Herzog, starring Nicolas Cage as a New Orleans police detective trying to bring down a drug dealer while dealing with his own personal demons.
• Capitalism: A Love Story, from documentarian Michael Moore. Here, Moore looks at how capitalism and corporations affect regular Americans.
• Harry Brown, from director Daniel Barber, starring Michael Caine as a man pushed to breaking point after the gang leader who murdered Caine's best friend is set free.
• Perrier's Bounty, from director Ian Fitzgibbon, a comedy that finds Cillian Murphy as Michael, on the run from a gangster named Perrier (Brendan Gleeson), with his father (Jim Broadbent) and best friend in tow.
• A Serious Man, from the Coen brothers Joel and Ethan. The festival describes the film as "imaginatively exploring questions of faith, familial responsibility, delinquent behaviour, dental phenomena, academia, mortality and Judaism -and intersections thereof".
• Triage, from Danis Tanovic, with Colin Farrell as a war photographer with hidden secrets about the disappearance of his colleague in Kurdistan.
• Whip It, the directorial debut of actor Drew Barrymore, looks at the world of women's roller-derby. Features a jam-packed cast with Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Eve, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern, Alia Shawkat,and Ari Graynor.
• Women Without Men, from Shirin Neshat, based on the novel by Sharnush Parsipur. The film looks at the lives of four women in Iran in 1953, when a coup lead to the re-installation of the Shah in place of the democratically elected government.
  

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

More Film Announcements

The festival announced more films today in across three of its programmes.

In the Special Presentations section, films announced include:

• Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos), the latest from filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Lluis Homar plays Harry Caine, a blind writer who has to face the submerged demons from his past. Also stars (of course) Penelope Cruz.
• An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig from a Nick Hornby screenplay, set in 1960s London, and about a young teenage girl coming of age and having to make a decision between university and a much older man. Starring Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams, and Emma Thompson among others.
• The Front Line (La prima linea), from director Renato De Maria, following a couple that belongs to the left-wing terrorist group Prima Linea in Italy in the 1970s and 80s.
• Glorious 39, from writer/director Stephen Poliakoff, a thriller set on the eve of World War II, with Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, David Tennant, Christopher Lee, Hugh Bonneville, Jenny Agutter, Jeremy Northam, and others.
• Kamui, Yoichi Sai's live-action version of the Japanese manga Kamui Gaiden (The Legend of Kamui), about ninja Kamui (Kenichi Matsuyama) trying to escape his clan. In his travels he meets ninja Sugaru (Koyuki) in a similar situation.
• Life During Wartime, from writer/director Todd Solondz (Happiness, Storytelling), characterized as a "part-sequel, part-companion piece" to Happiness, with Shirley Henderson, Ciaran Hinds, Allison Janney, Ally Sheedy, Gaby Hoffman, Paul Reubens, Charlotte Rampling, and others.
• A Prophet (Un prophète), about a young Arab man (Tahar Rahim), sent to a French prison, where he soon runs up against the Corsican gang that holds sway.
• The Secret of Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos), from director/co-writer Juan José Campanella, about an Argentinian court secretary who decides to write a book about a 30-year old case that still haunts him.

In the Discovery programme, which focuses on films from new directors, 21 films were announced:

• The Angel (Enkeli), the feature-film debut of Norwegian documentarian Margreth Olin, about a young mother with a past history of drug abuse.
• Applause, from writer/director Martin Pieter Zandvliet, about an actress who, fresh from rehab, tries to reconnect with her two estranged sons while keeping her inner demons at bay.
• Bare Essence of Life (Urutora mirakuru rabu sutôrî), finds Kenichi Matsuyama (who is also in the festival this year in Kamui) playing a farmer who falls in love for the first time with a Tokyo nursery school teacher still grieving over the death of her boyfriend.
• Beautiful Kate, from director/screenwriter Rachel Ward based on a novel by Newton Thornburg, stars Ben Mendelsohn as a writer who is called home by his sister (Rachel Griffiths) to make peace with his dying father (Bryan Brown). While home, long buried secrets soon reveal themselves.
• A Brand New Life, from writer/director Ounie Lecomte, about a young girl abandoned by her father in an orphanage.
• The Disappearance of Alice Creed, from writer/director J. Blakeson, about a woman kidnapped by two ex-convicts. With Gemma Arterton, Eddie Marsan, and Martin Compston.
• Eamon, from writer/director Margaret Corkery, about a love triangle between a father, mother, and son, brought to a head at a holiday gathering.
• Every Day Is a Holiday (Chaque jour est une fête), from director Dima El-Horr, about three Lebanese women on a trip to visit their imprisoned mates.
• Five Hours from Paris, from director/co-writer Leon Prudovsky, a romance between an Israeli cab driver and a Russian music teacher in Tel Aviv.
• Heliopolis, from director/writer Ahmad Abdalla, about a day in the life of a group of people in a Cairo neighbourhood.
• The Day Will Come (Es kommt der Tag), from director Susanne Schneider, about a woman tracked down by the-now adult daughter she once gave up for adoption, so she could go underground and join a terrorist group.
• Le Jour où Dieu est parti en voyage (aka Rwanda April 7, 1994), from director Philippe van Leeuw, a view of the Rwandan genocide through one woman's eyes.
• Last Ride, from director Glendyn Ivin, about a man his 10-year old son on the run from the law.
• My Dog Tulip, from husband-and-wife team Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Fierlinger, an animated film about an old man and his dog, with the voices of Christopher Plummer and Isabella Rossellini.
• My Tehran for Sale, from director/writer Granaz Moussavi, about a young actress in Tehran forced to keep her artistic expression hidden, who is offered a way out by a young Irani man now living in Australia.
• Northless (Norteado), from director Rigoberto Perezcano, a view of Tijuana seen through the eyes of a young man waiting to sneak across the border into the US.
• La Soga, from director Josh Crook, a drama set in the Dominican Republic.
• Shirley Adams, from Oliver Hermanus, about the life of a woman abandoned by her husband and committed to tend to her son, partially paralyzed from a shooting.
• Toad's Oil (Gama no abura), from star/director/co-writer Koji Yakusho, about a day trader who tries to reconnect with his young son after a tragedy befalls the family.
• Together Matias (Sammen), from director/writer Armand Jordal, about a father and son who must find a way to build a new relationship after an accident shatters their family.
• The Unloved, the directorial debut of actor Samantha Morton, about a young girl taken from her abusive family and put into government care. Starring Robert Carlyle.

Finally, the festival announced 9 new films for the Vanguard programme:

• Accident (Yi ngoi), from director Soi Cheang, about a group of assassins who stage accidents to conceal their kills.
• The Ape (Apan), from writer/director Jesper Ganslandt, about a man who must rebuild his life after a tragedy. I saw one of Ganslandt's previous films, Falkenberg Farewell, at the festival back in 2006.
• Bunny and the Bull, from writer/director Paul King, about two friends who relive a European road trip without leaving their living room.
• The Dirty Saints (Rio Fijman), from Luis Ortega, about five people who flee the ruins of the city to reach their salvation in "El Lugar", but must face mysterious forces trying to stop them.
• Enter the Void (Soudain le vide), from writer/director Gaspar Noé, about a drug dealer who traverses the void between life and death in Japan.
• Hipsters (Stilyagi), a musical from writer/director/librettist Valery Todorovsky, about "style hunters", youth obsessed with western culture, in 50's Russia.
• The Misfortunates (De helaasheid der dingen), from director/co-writer Felix Van Groeningen, about a young teenaged boy and his drunken father and uncles.
• My Queen Karo, from writer/director Dorothée van den Berghe, about a young girl and her family, who move to a squatter community in Amsterdam in the 70's.
• Spring Fever (Chun feng chen zui de ye wan), from director Ye Lou, about a doomed gay love triangle.

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Wavelengths Announced

The festival announced today the works in the Wavelengths programme, which is focused on avant-garde film and video productions. Full details can be found in the press release below:

http://www.tiff.net/press?newsId=633

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Documentary and Midnight Madness Films

The festival made a number of announcements today:

In addition to the existing Cadillac People's Choice Award (Slumdog Millionaire won last year), there will be new Cadillac People's Choice Awards specific for Documentaries and for Midnight Madness films.

The complete Midnight Madness lineup has been announced. Highlights below:

• Jennifer's Body, starring Megan Fox, with a script by Diablo Cody.
• A Town Called Panic, an animated film from Belgium/Luxembourg/France.
• Bitch Slap, from the creators of Xena and Hercules.
• Daybreakers, a sci-fi vampire film starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafor, and Sam Neill.
• Survival of the Dead, a new film from George Romero.
• The Loved Ones, from Australia.
• Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, a prequel of sorts to Ong Bak, from Tony Jaa who does double-duty as director and star.
• [REC] 2, a sequel to [REC], which was remade recently as Quarantine.
• Solomon Kane, about a mercenary in 16th-century England, from the writings of Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian.
• Symbol, from director and star Hitoshi Matsumoto.

Some of the documentaries for the festival have also been announced. These include:

• The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights: follows The White Stripes as they tour across Canada.
• The Art of the Steal: looks at the outcome of a famous collection of Post-Impressionist paintings following the death of its owner.
• Bassidji: a study of the Bassidjis, extreme supporters of the Iranian republic.
• Cleanflix: examines the industry around providing clean versions of R-rated films.
• Collapse: looks at Michael Ruppert's pessimistic thoughts around the future of the planet.
• Colony: a film about colony collapse disorder, affecting bee colonies around the US.
• Google Baby: looks at the burgeoning industry in India for provide surrogate mothers for childless western couples.
• How to Fold a Flag: follows US veterans of Iraq readjusting to life stateside, from the filmmakers of Gunner Palace.
• L'Enfer de Henri-Georges Clouzot: images from Henri-Georges Clouzot's (Diabolique) unfinished film L'Enfer withRomy Schneider.
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers: The story of the man who leaked top secretpapers on the history of the US involement in Vietnam to the New York Times.
• Presumed Guilty: A view of the Mexican legal system through two lawyer's efforts to clear a wrongly convicted man.
• Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags: a history of New York's garment district.
• Snowblind: focuses on Rachael Scdoris, a blind 23-year-old woman competing in the Iditarod.
• The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls: a film about New Zealand lesbian country-and-western singers.
• Videocracy: examines Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's expansive media empire.
• Good Hair: Chris Rock's look at the culture of African American hair.
• Turtle: The Incredible Journey: Follows a turtle in its look at how marine life is being impacted by environmental changes.
  

Tags: 2009,awards,films,tiff

Other Coverage of Opening Film

Following on from the previous post, Gayle MacDonald in The Globe and Mail, and Martin Knelman in The Toronto Star both comment on yesterday's announcement by the festival of Creation as the opening film of the festival. Both note that this is only the third time in the history of the festival that a non-Canadian film has opened, and the first since 1996 (the other two are Fly Away Home and In Country).

None of the Canadian industry folks interviewed by MacDonald seemed overly concerned by the move, and both MacDonals and Knelman make reference to the fact that some in the industry view the opening slot as less than desirable from a commercial point of view.

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Creation to Open Festival

The festival announced that Creation, a film based on the life of Charles Darwin and starring real-life husband and wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, will open the festival this year. This year is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.

As Chandra Menard at blogTO noted (http://www.blogto.com/film/2009/07/tiff_unveils_galas_and_opening_night_film/), this is an unusual choice as it is a UK, not a Canadian film.

Usually, the festival chooses a Canadian film to open the festival:

2008: Passchendaele from Paul Gross
2007: Fugitive Pieces from Jeremy Podeswa
2006: The Journals of Knud Rasmussen from Zacharias Kunuk
2005: Water from Deepha Mehta
2004: Being Julia from István Szabó
2003: Les Invasions Barbares from Denys Arcand

Menard quotes Piers Handling as reaffirming the festival's commitment to Canadian film, and that the Canadian lineup will be announced within the next few weeks.

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Ticket Exchanges

Thanks to Greg from TOfilmfest.ca for pointing out that in the latest mailing to festival goers, it lists that if you want to exchange a ticket to one film for a different film or screening, there is a $2.50 charge per ticket. Tickets can be exchanged up until the day before the actual screening.
The interesting thing to all this is that the festival general policies on the official site actually currently state that there are no ticket exchanges allowed.

I'm not sure if this fee will be in effect or not on ticket package pickup day, but I would tend to imagine so. The impact for anyone who has bought one of the "You Choose" type packages is that if you make a backup choice for one of your movie selections, and you get the backup, then if you decide you want to pick something else instead, you may get dinged for $2.50 to make the switch.

One alternative is to not make a second choice if there really isn't anything else you want to watch in a particular time slot. If you don't receive your first choice and you haven't indicated a backup, then you will receive a voucher that can be used just like cash to purchase a ticket to another film.

If you haven't participated in the advance order process before, this probably doesn't make any sense to you. As we draw nearer to the festival, I will be posting an updated guide to the process.

Another alternative is to try and sell off your ticket the day of the screening to someone in the rush line (i.e. someone who is hoping that someone doesn't show up for a sold-out screening). This is a pretty common occurrence, and I've both bought and sold tickets in this situation.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

Box Office Update

As of July 15, 2009, the following packages are sold out on the festival online box office:

• Day Package Lite
• Student Card for Friday, September 11
• Student Card for Saturday, September 12
• Student Card for Sunday, September 13
• Visa Screening Room Weekend Evening Package
• Visa Screening Room Mid-Festival Package

Still available:

• 10-ticket Package
• Festival Package
• Festival Package Lite
• Day Package
• Student Card for Monday, September 14 through to Saturday, September 19
• Sutton 2-Day Package
• Sutton 3-Day Package
• 6:00 PM Visa Screening Room Evening Package
• 9:00 PM Visa Screening Room Evening Package
• Visa Screening Room 2-Day Package
• Visa Screening Room 3-Day Package
• City to City Package
• Wavelengths Package
• Midnight Madness Package
• Globetrotter Weekend/Evening Package
• Globetrotter Daytime Package
• Festival Experience Evening/Weekend Package
• Festival Experience Daytime Package
• Roy Thomson Hall Closing Night Film and Cocktail

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

Additional Films Announced

Yesterday the festival announced three films for the Gala Presentations programme, and 19 films for the Special Presentations programme. The full press release can be found here:

http://www.tiff.net/press?newsId=627

Gala highlights include:

• Get Low, from director Aaron Schneider, starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, and Sissy Spacek.
• The Invention of Lying, starring Ricky Gervais.
• Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, starring Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz among others.

Special Presentations highlights include:

• The Boys Are Back, starring Clive Owen.
• Bright Star, a John Keats biopic from director Jane Campion, with Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish.
• Cracks, with Eva Green.
• The Informant!, from director Steven Soderbergh and starring Matt Damon.
• Leaves of Grass, staring Edward Norton playing identical twin brothers.
• Mother, from director Bong Joon-ho (The Host).
• Ondine, from filmmaker Neil Jordan, starring Colin Farrell.
• Partir, starring Kristin Scott Thomas.
• Solitary Man, starring Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary Louise Parker, and Jenna Fischer.
• Vengeance, from director Johnny To.

Tags: 2009,films,tiff

Ticket Package Sales

As previously mentioned, ticket packages are now on sale to the general public (although you can only pay by Visa at this point in time). So far, as of 11:30 AM, everything is still available except for the Visa Screening Room Weekend Evening Package (which allows you to see 6:00 PM showings at the Visa Screening Room on Sept 11, 12, and 13).

Normally, the Visa Screening Room and Roy Thomson Hall packages tend to sell out first, most of the others usually still have availability until closer to the festival. Note that any of the "You Choose" packages really should be purchased before the Advance Order Process occurs in late August to take full advantage of them.

Check out the festival web site at http://www.tiff.net/boxoffice for details on how and where to purchase tickets.

Update (July 6, 2009, 7:35 PM): The Day Package Lite (15 films before 5:01 PM) is also sold out. All other packages (except for the previously mentioned two) are still available.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

Ticket Packages on Sale Monday, July 6, 2009

Just a reminder that ticket packages go on sale to the general public starting 10:00 AM, on Monday, July 6. 2009. Note that at this point you can only purchase using a Visa card (Visa is a major sponsor of the festival). If you want to purchase ticket packages using cash or debit, you have to wait until 10:00 AM on Monday, July 13, 2009.

Check out my previous post on packages available for the 2009 festival:

http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/05/2009-festival-ticketing-update.html

Ticket packages either give you tickets to films pre-selected by the festival, or allow you to participate in the advance order process. The advance order process lets you select your own films in late August/early September, before sales open up to the general public.

If you just want to buy a ticket or two, or don't want to go to the trouble of participating in the advance order process, you can wait until 7:00 AM on September 4, 2009 to purchase tickets.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff

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

TIFF Donors

In case you are wondering if you should donate to the festival, or how donations affect the Advance Order process, this article describes the benefits and impacts. Full information on the donation levels can be found at http://tiffg.ca/support/default.aspx.

Notable benefits for donors include:

• As of June 1, 10:00 AM, donors can start purchasing ticket packages; all others have to wait until July 6.
• As of August 27, 10:00 AM, donors of $1,000 or more can start purchasing individual premium tickets (i.e. premium screenings at Roy Thomson Hall and the Visa Screening Room); all others have to wait until September 4. A lot of the literature out there seems to imply all donors can purchase early, but the TIFFG site states the benefit is only available to $1,000 donors and above.
• Tax receipt for donations above $10.
• Priority in the Advance Order process at the Benefactor level and above (i.e. a minimum donation of $250); priority increases with the donation level.

Donor levels include:

• 52/7 Circle Level: $5,000
• Gold Level: $3,500
• Silver Screen Level: $2,000
• Film Club Level: $1,000
• Associate Level: $500
• Benefactor Level: $250
• $150
• Ambassador Level: $100
• $50
• Supporter Level: $25

I had the chance last year to talk to Jesse Hawken, Assistant Manager of Customer Relations at TIFF about the donor benefits in the Advance Order process. Previously, donors were served out of the industry box office, and had a private allotment of tickets. However, as of last year, the process changed in that any unused donor-allotted tickets were returned to the pool available for the general public.

In 2008, there were 78 boxes in the draw, with an additional 7 boxes for donors, separated by donor level. None of the donor boxes were full, and each donor box is about 1.5 times the size of a normal box. No screenings were completely cleared out by donor orders.

One benefit resulting from donations is providing student and senior pricing for screenings at the festival.

On a separate note, Hawken also talked to the Visa Screening Room, and that the changes there for the 2008 festival were a consequence of not wanting to raise prices. He did say the festival would look at the Visa Screening Room for 2009, and their published commitments so far would seem to indicate they followed through on that, especially the guarantee that there won't be any gala films that can't be accessed by the normal ticket packages.

Tags: 2008,2009,tickets,tiff

Service Changes for 2009

The Festival outlined a number of changes to improve service for this year's festival, including:

• All Gala films will have at least one screening accessible to Festival, Daytime, and 10-ticket Package holders, subject to availability. This was a problem last year, when there were 8 films that screened only at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room and thus could not be selected by package holders who did not have a gala or Visa Screening Room pass.
• Package holders will have increased access to the Visa Screening Room. This apparently is being accomplished by having about half the screenings at the Visa Screening Room be regular public screenings, while the other half or so will be premium public screenings. Last year, you could not see films at the Visa Screening Room unless you had the Visa Screening Room pass, or bought individual premium tickets.
• Reduction of wait times for advance order pickups. The Festival is searching out an appropriate location that meets their "needs for traffic flow and access for all box-office functions." This might mean not using the Toronto Life Square location for the advance order pickup like last year. On pickup day on September 3, there will be increased hours of operation, and they will be doubling the number of operators available for the ticket exchange process.
• Distinct criteria for premium screenings. Premium screenings will always be the first showing of a film at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room, and have at least one of the following three criteria: be a red carpet event; be at least a North American premiere; include a Q&A with either a director or a principal cast member. Note that the majority of films will have their first screening in a non-premium venue, and many will have a Q&A, even in subsequent screenings.
• Individual ticket sales will begin on September 4, 6 days before the start of the festival.
• The film schedule will be released on August 25, and Advance Orders are not due until August 31 at 1:00 PM, which is three days more than last year.
• Completed Advance Orders will be available for pickup in September 3 (note, this is a Thursday and not a holiday), before the Labour Day long weekend.

It sounds like the Festival has listened to the feedback coming out of last year's event, especially around the Visa Screening Room. It will be interesting to see how the Advance Order process will work for films there, since package holders will be able to see some, but not all films at the Visa Screening Room (i.e. premium screenings there will still require individual tickets or one of the Visa Screening Room passes). The additional package types for the Visa Screening Room provide a fair bit of variety and do seem to make things more accessible.

Hopefully the venue chosen for Advance Order pickup will facilitate the pickup process better this year. The one main problem at the Toronto Life Square location in the early part of last year was people cutting in line, since the line started at street level but the box office was three flights of escalators up. By the end of the festival, they had instituted a system that cut down on people cutting in.

Having additional time for the ordering process and having the long weekend free are both a plus, although I think that may be due in part to the date on which Labour Day falls this year (it's a lot later than normal). Hopefully this will persist into future years as well. On the downside, you will now need to take a vacation day for Advance Order pickup if you expect to have to do ticket exchanges.

Tags: 2009,tickets,tiff