TIFF'09 Wrap Up

10 Days, 40 Features and 3 Notebooks later.... Let's take a look at the highlights from TIFF this year.

Overall Stand out Films: Valhalla Rising, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, La Donation / The Legacy, Whip It, The Loved Ones, The Damned United, Timetrip: The Curse of the Viking Witch / Vølvens Forbandelse

Best Performances (ladies): Paprika Steen in Applause / Applaus, Élise Guilbault in La Donation / The Legacy, Juliette Lewis in Whip It, , Robin McLeavy in The Loved Ones, Gemma Arterton in The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Sophie Lowe in Beautiful Kate

Best Performances (gents): Mads Mikkelson in Valhalla Rising, Martin Compston in The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Andrew Garfield in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Jens Andersen in Deliver Us From Evil / Fri os fra det onde, Trevor Hayes in The Wild Hunt, Manny Perez in La Soga

Artistic works of wonder: Valhalla Rising, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

They made my cry: Mao's Last Dancer, Whip It

They made me laugh: Castaway on the Moon / Kim Ssi Pyo Ryu Gi, Like You Know It All / Jal Alijido Motamyunseo

Standing Ovations: None. That's a first.

Favourite Program: Tie between Midnight Madness and Discovery

Best Experience: Closing the festival off with Ong Bak 2: The Beginning was a great choice, so many buddies were there and the film was a lot of fun.

Changing the collective experience: I think it's time we let the anti-piracy 'Arggggggg!' go. Three years is a good stint, but it's time to move on.

Best Q&A's: Valhalla Rising, Solomon Kane, Daybreakers and La Donation

Weirdest Q&A question: Why did you make this into a film? (Answer: Because I'm a filmmaker)

Still has me thinking: The Wild Hunt

The weird and bizarre: Face / Visage, Symbol / Shinboru

Most impressive first feature: The Disappearance of Alice Creed

Weirdest reoccurance: People texting. Seriously. They mentioned before each screening and people still do it. 5/39 screenings had texters in them - one women I could even hear her typing. Get a grip y'all - you can spend 2 hours away from technology.

Fullest Screenings: Daybreakers, Mao's Last Dancer

Oddly worked in favour: So many screenings at Ryerson. Usually I avoid it but wasn't able to this year. Turns out it was one of the only theatres that used spotlight for intros & Q&A. Many of the vids are really dark this year unless the screening was at Ryerson.

New this year for me: Seeing an omnibus film Sawasdee Bangkok and seeing a film at Jackman Hall.

Wish I hadn't missed: [REC]2, Mr. Nobody, Mother and Suck

Unbelievable Moment: One day I forgot my notebook. Yes, that is the most unbelievable moment!

Random Learning: Scotiabank staircase has 75 stairs

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