TIFF Abridged

The annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is well underway. The films have started screening, the stars have been filing along the red carpets and the crowds have been lining up to gain admission to the films being screened.

Downtown Toronto, especially around the TIFF Lightbox has become a NoGo zone. Streets have been closed, parking spaces have disappeared and the crowds are flowing between buildings trying to get into the next lineup to see the films they have been waiting all year for. This year TIFF is showing close to 300 films from all over the world. Many of these films will be opening in local cinemas in a few weeks time. Others will wait until some time next year before they get a theatrical release. Still others will disappear from sight, never to be seen again. This year is somewhat an unusual year for me. For many years now I have been attending TIFF and running from one theatre to another to try to catch as many films as possible. This year things are a little different.

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The first number of years I received Press Accreditation and attended the Festival as a representative of the Canada Free Press. I received a pass and was able to attend as many films as I could possibly get to. A few years ago I changed the way I attended the festival. I was working as the Program Director of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and I received accreditation from that organization. At this point I should point out that in all reality, TIFF runs two distinct and separate festivals. One is for the general public and this is the festival you hear about. The other festival is run for the Press and for members of the film Industry. The Press and Industry screenings are separate and apart from the public screenings. The public does not have access to these screenings and the schedule of screenings is quite different and distinct from the public screenings. So whether I was going as a member of the press or as a representative of an organization that was part of the movie business, I always attended these special Press and Industry screenings. I left the Toronto Jewish Film Festival last year and therefore applied for Press Accreditation this year in order to represent the Canada Free Press. Because I hadn't continued my attendance as a member of the press, I was treated like a newcomer to the press business and was not awarded accreditation. Oh, TIFF had all the right excuses. More people apply for Press Accreditation than they can accommodate; there isn't enough room for everyone; and so on. And it's all probably true. Instead of a press card, TIFF offered me 5 vouchers so I could see five films. Well, last year I saw about 45 films, so that is quite a difference. But I accepted their offer. I chose my films very judiciously. Because I am now working as a consultant with the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, I chose five of the "Jewish" films being screened at TIFF. I attended my first film last Friday (Sept. 6)‹a French production called FRIENDS FROM FRANCE. I walked into the Scotiabank Theatre where the film was to be screened and was stopped and asked for my badge. Since I didn't have one, I was directed to the Rush line outside. The volunteers there told me I had to wait until a few minutes before the screening began and would receive a token to take in with me if there were any seats available. I waited patiently. I received my token a few minutes before the screening and entered the theatre. When I was allowed into the auditorium I discovered that there were about 50 people in a theatre that could accommodate about 250. But I was in and I watched the film. Ostensibly, the film was about two young French Jews who traveled to Odessa to meet and encourage Russian refuseniks during the 1970¹s. Refuseniks were Soviet Jews who had applied to emigrate to Israel and had been turned down. Not only that, but these people usually lost their jobs, often were forced to move into inferior accommodations and were subject to arrest by the KGB at any time. To a large extent the focus of the film changed about halfway through and the relationship between the two French Jews became the important element in the storyline. As a whole, the film did not impress me, but it may be a good film for future Jewish film festivals and I shall report this to them. Well, I got to see the film, so I should be grateful for that. But because I was kept outside of the building until just before the time of the screening, I missed out on seeing people from the film business that I knew and I missed out on schmoozing time, which is an important element at all film festivals. True, after the film I could hang around as long as I wanted, but by that time it was time to head out and make the trek back home to Thornhill. In addition to all this, I have lost access to the Press Room and have limited ability to find out about developing stories and have lost access to a lot of background material. In short, it is not an ideal way to attend a film festival, but I shall soldier on and attend the film screenings I am able to attend and will report on them in the next few days.