On a cool, wet morning that felt a lot more like autumn than the Saturday before, we emerged from St. Andrews Station to the site of bright orange balloons. If we didn’t already know our way, these beacons would have led us straight to Festival Street.
The morning’s set up was still underway and crowds were thin when we got there, but the dreary weather hadn’t dampened the volunteers’ enthusiasm. As we stopped to have a look at the iconic TIFF sign which marked the start of the street fair, one volunteer cheerfully greeted us and offered to take our picture. it felt like a good omen for the day to come.
The Toronto International Film Festival is marking its
fortieth anniversary this year, but this would be our first experience at one.
Not that TIFF is new to us. Since moving here last December, The Bell Lightbox
has become almost a second home. TIFF year-round activities revived our love for cinema and we
are proud members. So to finally be getting the chance to set foot on the
festival’s grounds was a big occasion.
Let’s eat
After picking up our tickets from will-call, it was time to
get something to eat. David was already beginning to suffer from coffee withdrawal
and at ten a.m. breakfast was long overdue. We picked Canteen.
Right in the center of it all, this casual resto is the
perfect spot for a before or an after movie meal. We are huge fans of the O&B
restaurant group. Although we may not have eaten at every one of their restaurants yet, we’ve loved
everyone we’ve been to. They are truly devoted to providing that multi-cultural
comfort food that has become synonymous with Canadian cuisine. They also pay
attention to quality ingredients. As Jen said over breakfast: “One of my
favorite things about them is their focus on amazing bread.” They serve artisanal
country style bread at Canteen, and it was the center point to the eggs on
toast we both ordered. Also on the plus side for a morning stop, the coffee was
excellent.
A line to Mars
We had purchased a package of ten tickets at the outset, so we’d be able to catch five films during the festival. Our first one was The Martian. Staring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott, this was definitely one of the big blockbusters of this year’s pick. We chose it in part for the name recognition but mostly because it brought us to the festival village on opening weekend.
After breakfast, we made our way
over to Roy Thompson Hall to wait in line—and what a line it was! As David quipped:
“If we all stood on each other’s shoulders, we’d be able to touch Mars.” We
honestly experienced a surreal moment looking for an end of a line that never
seemed to come, as we walked further and further from the venue showing our
movie. This couldn’t be real. People would have had to be waiting there for
hours. No one would do that, right? Well, actually…
It turns out people did get there early—very early. Over two
hours before show time, people were lining up for the general admission
seating. And Roy Thompson Hall seats a whole lot of people. Reaching the end
(which we estimated at being close to a kilometer from where it started), we were
surprised and relieved to find that we weren’t the last to arrive. One of the
few joys of standing in the cold and wondering if the skies would open up and
drench us was the look on all the newcomer’s faces as they stared in disbelief
at the line that would not end.
We did regret not heading over earlier, but not much. Waiting
in a line for hours on end for a movie has never been our idea of fun. And as
we found out, it was hard to get a bad seat. The theater had a much wider
viewing angle than your typical multiplex and care had been taken to close off areas
that were too far off to the side.
Once we got inside, we were truly impressed that the anarchy we
were expecting never materialized. Thanks to the staff and volunteers (not to
mention the civility of other movie-goers) seating was incredibly orderly and
trouble free.
Would the other venues be the same?
The Martian
This isn’t the place for a full movie review, but I will say we both enjoyed it. The action never stopped. The visuals were excellent—just a stunning film to look at. And the big surprise was that it had many genuinely funny moments. Once it hits the regular theaters, it is going to be a big hit.
On the street
.
.
After the film, things were a lot busier than in the morning but lacked the crowds we expected. Had the weather been even a little nicer, there would likely have been twice the number of people. It is a shame that they don’t run Festival Street for both weekends of the TIFF since it would double the odds of good weather.
The fair ran along King Street (closed for the occasion)
from University to Peter Street. The numerous restaurants along the route had
extended their patios and a few brave souls took advantage of the outdoor
seating.
But the bravest people we saw were the die-hard celebrity
seekers glued to the barriers blocking off areas where the stars might make
an appearance. We didn’t wait around for any celebs but we did spot a few among the crowd. As a fan-girl and fan-boy of Orphan
Black, the most exciting sighting of the day was Kristian Bruun.
As we toured the fair we tried to guess the obscure film
logos decorating the orange balloons. These were part of TIFF’s Questival, a contest that challenged
players to identify all forty films by their design. We only managed about
four. There were other games as well—everything from a street sized chess
set to a booth offering to film you dancing using stop-motion animation.
There was a stage just south of the main drag on John
Street, but we never saw anyone get up and perform. Although we did spot a
few street performers. There was a dance troupe that had such a thick crowd around
them, all we saw was the top of their heads, and there was at least one magician
doing close-up tricks for passersby. And the festival had placed a piano on the street. As we passed, it was being played by a particularly talented artist.
There were also many promo booths set up on King and even a
pop-up store that despite its tiny size seemed to be generating a lot of
interest. The advertising kiosks were doing plenty of giveaways. We got some
snacks from Shop.ca but otherwise kept moving.
North of King, on John Street, the food truck village was setup.
Unfortunately by the time we got to it, the rain was coming down steadily and we
decided wolfing down food in the wet wasn’t going to be that enjoyable. It was
too bad because some of the vendors like Localista were in the spirit offering
menu items like The Empanada Strikes back
and Planes, Trains, and a Duck Cake.
Cocktail time
Not quite ready to go home and beginning to get hungry again, we made a pit-stop in the crowded, Entertainment District staple HeyLucy, where we grabbed some thin crust pizza for a late lunch. The narrow space was packed with people and the ambiance was rich and cozy—the perfect thing to warm up after a few hours in the elements. The five dollar martinis didn’t hurt either.
Onward
The weather dampened the festivities a bit, but as with all
firsts, this gray Saturday in September will hold a special spot in our
memories and be what we judge all future opening weekends of TIFF by.
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