Twenty five years! I’ve been covering TIFF for a quarter of a century–literally half of my life. After all of these years, TIFF is still one of my all time favourite things that I cover, and this year has been an absolute treat.
Every year is different, but the flavours of TIFF stay the same. It’s back to back movies, and walking down King Street for Festival Street, dropping in for a coffee at a brunch or drinks after a movie, and maybe most of all, running into long time friends and people I know in the industry to share notes and talk about what we have loved.
This year feels like an all-timer for me and celebrating TIFF’s 50th anniversary. There have been so many great films, and I don’t know if it’s luck, at the films that I picked, or that this year is just better than usual. I’ve already seen Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, the documentary Orwell 2+2=5, Hedda, It Was Just An Accident, and I’ve heard incredible things about Hamnet, The Testament of Ann Lee, Modern Whore, among so many more.
My festival started out with the excellent No Other Choice, a film that’s as depressing as it is funny. I walked out feeling like I had lived the story, in the best and worst ways possible. It’s a bold piece of cinema that’s filled with the character’s anxiety, and it’s brilliantly told through the lens of family.
Last night I saw Hedda, and it was a bold reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play, Hedda Gabler. I’ve always loved the play, and Nia DaCosta’s version of the story–that she wrote, directed, and produced–is very bold. Tessa Thompson is fierce as Hedda, and the chemistry between her, Nina Hoss, and Imogen Poots is astonishing.
I would recommend the film for the performances alone, but the story feels like an original with the changes DaCosta made.
Amazon MGM Studios hosted a fantastic party after the premiere and it felt like stepping into the movie, complete with over-the-top 1950s era decor, cocktails, food, and a fantastic jazz band on stage.
The premiere for Steve was another great night. Cillian Murphy is electric in the titular role, and the film takes a familiar story and reinvents it from a new perspective, but the standout star is Jay Lycurgo as Shy. He brings depth, heart, and fire to the part, in a way that is often so subtle and surprising. It was a real pleasure getting the chance to chat with him at the after party, especially about how we both think men’s mental health needs way more attention.
So far I’ve seen eight films, but I’ve also been to a few parties, a brunch, a press conference, and a few other events around TIFF, and of course I spent some time on Festival Street before it wrapped up last night.
Yesterday I went to a fun little brunch stop with the Black Bear Pictures team for a change of pace. They’ve had some fantastic titles over the years, including Sing Sing, Nyad, The Monkey, and Dumb Money; and this year they have Christy, Tuner, and Train Dreams at TIFF. A few talented people were on hand from the films, including Christy star Sydney Sweeney and the great Dustin Hoffman from Tuner.
I really enjoyed sitting in on the press conference for Roofman, the crime drama that stars Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, and Juno Temple. Everyone except for Mendelsohn were in attendance alongside director Derek Cianfrance and co-writer Kirt Gunn, and they talked about adapting and telling the story that was based on real events. Tatum gave wonderfully honest and heartfelt answers about playing Jeffrey Manchester, the real fugitive that the film is based around. I’ll have more on that very soon.
There has been a lot more in my schedule that I can’t quite fit into this post, but I interviewed star Robert Aramayo and director Kirk Jones for I Swear. I screened John Candy: I Like Me, and as a big fan of the great Canadian I really enjoyed it. And I still have interviews and films coming up over the next few days as the festival starts to wind down.
As of this moment I also just got the invite for the premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein tonight, so I’ll have a lot more to share soon.
I started covering the Toronto International Film Festival all the way back in 2001, and every year is so unique and different, but celebrating my 25th year during TIFF 50 has been the best treat. I love what TIFF brings to the city, I love talking about movies with so many people, and I feel very proud that I’ve been able to be part of TIFF for all of these years.
