If you're an avid fan of movies like I am, from Sept. 10 to 19, you need to make your way downtown.
The prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is back in full swing with hundreds of films from all over the world being screened for the public.
That's right. It's open to the public and that is exactly what sets this homegrown filmfest (second only to Cannes if not on par) apart from the rest.
A-list celebs (George Clooney, Drew Barrymore, Matt Damon, Jennifer Connelly to name a few) are scheduled to be in town as well as the many unknown but optimistic filmmakers and actors here in the city to promote their work.
That week is going to be insane for me as I currently have five films selected with one more to choose. But I love it. At the risk of writing something cliche: there's a certain electricity in the air.
Having gone to TIFF since my university days (during the late '90s), I've had many memorable moments like seeing Borat (a.k.a. Sasha Baron Cohen), being part of a Q and A with Vince Vaughn, watching the work-in-progress version of Dave Chappelle's Block Party, sitting in the Uptown Theatre before it was torn down with Adam Sandler for his movie Punch Drunk Love...and that's only a few things I can recall off the top of my head.
This year should be just as entertaining with the following movies on my TIFF slate.
I'm not exactly sure how Toronto, out of all the major cities in the world, got to host such a pivotal film festival that many critics and film enthusiasts alike from across the globe look to in determining the best films of the year leading all the way up to the Academy Awards.
Whatever the reason, it's all kind of cool.
EDIT: A friend informed me of the following about the growth and popularity of TIFF.
"Having worked with TIFF before, I was told that apparently, Montreal FF
used to be the bigger one - but due to the choosing of a larger
proportion of french films, essentially turned itself into a
francophone film festival. This opened the door for TIFF to start to
get more of the Hollywood films, and thus grew its popularity."
There you have it!