The results of the advance draw didn’t turn out too badly, after all. I received my confirmation email at about 11:30am on Sunday and got 30 of my 37 selections. As expected, some of the more recognizable titles didn’t make it (Zack and Miri, Synecdoche, Adoration, Pontypool). It seems that earlier screenings, even for lower profile films, are more likely to sell out: I didn’t get Zift, Afterwards, nor Uncertainty which were all scheduled during the first few days; yet The Wrestler and RocknRolla on the last day of the festival were available.
Today, Sakina and I ventured downtown for ticket pick-up and exchange. I did this two years ago when Mike and I were in a similar poor spot in the draw. Expecting similar lines, we arrived around 8am which was two hours before the box office opened. In 2006, arriving just after 8am, it took less than 4 hours from that point to pick up tickets, then join the following line for those making exchanges (that’s pretty much everyone who bothers to get there that early), and then get everything sorted out. This year it took closer to 5.5hrs! For an excellent breakdown of the process, check out TIFF Talk (Firefox isn’t always liking this URL … if you get error, just go to address bar and hit enter, the page will load fine). In fact, the guy who runs that site must have been right behind us, because in the last picture you can see the back of Sakina’s head in the bottom left!
Despite the brutal lines, I think the trip was a success. By the time we got to the box office proper, the original screening of Zift that I selected was back on sale. I was able to get Pontypool at a different time, which involved shifting my screening of Cooper’s Camera to another day and dropping One Week altogether. I also added Lost Song and Maman est chez le coiffeur (more about those later). With Mike’s pass, I secured 4 alternate films he wanted and got a couple of things for Sven & Sandra as well.
I still have a bunch of extra vouchers from my pack. We’ll see what Sakina might be interested to see, and I’ll also try to slot in some additional films. There are some that are off sale that I’ll keep my eye on, plus some others that I’m awaiting further info (i.e., more reviews) before committing. As of now, my schedule is looking like this.
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