I know there are ultra men and women out there who do a triathlon before the first festival industry screening at 8.30am. But I just TIFF & sleep & TIFF & sleep for 2 weeks. After I’ve checked my list:
++
Go big –an early-bird TIFF pass is money well spent– or
go guerrilla –day-of tickets & the rush of rush lines.
++ The best things happen in the lineups anyway, especially with our ever friendly and chatty and hustling American neighbours in town. Like meeting an L.A. 3D cinematographer
or a film professor from the Midwest, who specializes in the Berlin School and who you can book for your future Goethe Film Talks right there and then.
++ Get a FOMO vaccination before Day 1.
No one "must see“ anything. It's just film (did I just say that?).
Embrace your choices and make it your festival. So you didn't see SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE before the Oscars? You likely enjoyed it just the same after. (although, speaking of Dev Patel, HOTEL MUMBAI has been mentioned as a top film by several TIFF programmers I chatted with over the last few months). I will miss three films I wanted to see this year but that absolutely didn't fit anywhere on Sunday morning or Wednesday near midnight. I have made my peace with this disappiontment (nearly).
++ I know I know. Deep down I also want to be the first to tweet in the next winning Oscar bet live from Cinema 1. But whatever. Look up from your device to smell & watch & touch the films.
++ Unless you’re a Sony buyer or a Ryan Gosling stalker, don't sweat messing up your by now intricately curated schedule. In well over a decade of TIFF-ing, I
once took a wrong turn at the Varsity and
once didn't check for a last-minute Press & Industry screening change. Both times I stuck with my guns and saw brilliant films I would otherwise not have seen.
++ Enjoy. Which can mean really taking in two films and actually thinking about them for a few days. Vs. running in & out of 30 and not being able to place an actor/scene/dialogue/emotion after day 3 (it is not an Ironwoman competition).
++ Always applaud the programmers & volunteers, they work hard and deserve your TLC.
++ Put this pack list in your ecal with an alert for
every first Thursday in September for all eternity and then get your compact and sturdy survival pack ready (see mine in photo): Water. Scarf. Pen & Paper (the 35mm of note-taking: trustworthy & endangered but never out of juice). Business cards (see Sony above). Protein snacks (I go all German with hard-boiled eggs and pumpernickel philly sandwiches). Fully charged external iphone battery. And another. Fisherman’s friends. Ziplock bag (don’t bother your neighbour with that smelly banana peel). Dextrose pick-me up. Painkiller (for the worst). Whatever your minimal rain gear is, think dollar store poncho (nothing worse than sitting on wet jeans for 4 hours). Oh, and added this year: a foldable, reusable coffee cup I am putting all my hopes and dreams into.
Then strap on those fancy new sneakers --I allow myself a new pair each year for the Berlinale-- to make it up and down and up and down the Scotiabank stairs.
And don't forget your eyes & ears & mind.
See you at the Lightbox on September 6 at 8.45am and of course at the North American premiere of German Oscar contender NEVER LOOK AWAY on Saturday!
by
Jutta Brendemühl
image: c Jutta Brendemühl
