TIFF'09: Selections Confirmed!

It's time to ink those suckers in!

Yesterday was quite the antsy day. The TIFF lottery had happened and people were waiting patiently, or not so patiently, to hear how we did on our selections. People really close to the front of the processing line heard as early as Monday night, whereas others didn't hear until today. I was in box 16 (processed 20th out of 54 boxes), and heard early Tuesday night. I was dumbfounded and thrilled that I got 41 out of 42 of my first picks and that includes some of the more popular films including: Valhalla Rising, Whip It, The Road and The Damned United. Only one of those is a first screening, but even still - I'm thrilled! It sounded like a fair number of people did get all or most of their first selections, which is so great to hear. The only film I heard consistently as the "I got everything but.." was Up in the Air. I guess that is the hot ticket this year!

Every year I try to do something new at the festival. Last year I ventured into the land of children and saw a film as a part of the Sprockets program: The Secret of Moonacre. It was a lot of fun and especially nice to have something a little lighter on the roster. This year I'm doing a few things including seeing 2 series of shorts: Short Cuts Canada and Sawadee Bangkok. I'm really looking forward to both programs but it feels pretty insane, especially not only to see them but to retain and write about short film on top of the 40 features over 10 days! Other new adventures this year include seeing a film at the AGO Jackman Hall, I've seen screenings there before but not as a part of the festival. Perhaps the craziest is ending the festival off with a 6 screening day. Yeah. We'll see how that goes.

All thing said and done I'm pretty freaking happy. I only had one 2nd choice with getting Solitary Man instead of Triage but the timeslot was really not to my taste. I'm considering trying to swap it, but the thought of the lines will likely keep me away.

Remember, if you do not need to make any exchanges you don't need to run to the box office at 7am on Thursday Sept 3rd, 2009. The exchange line is usually the longest line of the year. But, every year something changes and this year the big change is that it isn't on Labour Day so it's not a holiday and therefore less people will be able to come down. Also, it is a full week before the festival instead of a few days so less out of towners will be there. Most importantly - when you do pick up you tickets - remember your Pick Up Voucher(s). I'm going to put mine in my bag right now. So, what to know what I'm seeing?

Movie Moxie's TIFF'09 Film List:
Air Doll
Ape, The
Applause
Beautiful Kate
Castaway on the Moon
Damned United, The
Daybreakers
Defender
Deliver Us from Evil
Disappearance of Alice Creed
Donation, La
Down for Life
Every Day is a Holiday
Face
Good Heart, The
Kamui
Last Ride
Like You Know It All
Loved Ones, The
Mao's Last Dance
Nymph
Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning
Phantom Pain
Road, The
Sawadee Bangkok
Short Cuts Canada #2
She, A Chinese
Soga, La
Solitary Man
Solomon Kane
Survival of the Dead,George A Romero's
Symbol
Time Trip
Toad's Oil
Unloved, The
Valhalla Rising
Vintner's Luck
Waiting City, The
Warrior and the Wolf, The
Whip It
Wild Hunt
Year of the Carnivore

No big surprizes with high volumes on Canadian, Japanese and European co-pros's - I always like those. But out of nowhere are 5 Australian films including The Waiting City, The Loved Ones and Last Ride. I'm catching 6 of the Midnight Madness film which are always fun, but another huge surprize is 12 Special Presentations! Whoa! I feel so... mainstream. Someone help me out! Good thing the selection also includes a whopping 8 films from the Discovery program, it's always a treat to see directors first works. Rounding out the categories are 2 from each Visions and Vanguard along with the usual 1 Gala.

Let's break it down, shall we?

Breakdown by Country:
6 - Canada
5 - Australia
4 - Japan
4 - USA
3 - Thailand
3 - UK
2 - Denmark
2 - South Korea
1 - China
1 - Germany
1 - Sweden
+ 10 - Co-pros, mostly European

Breakdown by Program:
12 - Special Presentation
8 - Discovery
6 - Midnight Madness
5 - Contemporary World Cinema
2 - Canada First!
2 - Masters
2 - Vanguard
2 - Vision
1 - Gala
1 - Short Cuts Canada
1 - Sprockets

How did your picks go?

Festival Box Office Hours - Nathan Phillips Square, white tent on West Side *
100 Queen Street West
June 1 to September 2, 2009: 10:00am to 7:00pm
September 3 to 18, 2009: 7:00am to 7:00pm
September 19, 2009: 7:00am to 5:00pm

Important Dates *
Thursday Sept 3, 2009 at 7am - Ticket package pick up and ticket exchange begins
Friday Sept 4, 2009 - single tickets go on sale
Thursday Sept 10, 2009 - TIFF begins

As always, check the official TIFF'09 site for all information on policies, procedures and up to date information.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 - 19, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.