Long Pauses

TIFF 2006

It’s official. Late last night I received a confirmation email from the Toronto International Film Festival box office, notifying me that I would be seeing all thirty of my first choice films. Given that so many of my friends are still awaiting similar confirmation, mine appears to have been one of the first orders processed — just lucky in the lottery draw this year, I guess.

After Girish’s avant-garde blog-a-thon last month, I decided to make a-g films a much higher priority at TIFF this year, so nearly half of my picks are from the Wavelengths and Visions programmes. This means that I won’t be seeing many of the most talked about films — not until they arrive in Knoxville, at least. No Pan’s Labyrinth or Shortbus or Rescue Dawn or Lights in the Dusk or The Host. Or, more in the mainstream, no Babel or The Fountain or Breaking and Entering or All the King’s Men. I’m eager to see all of those films, but I’m willing to wait.

Instead, I’m going to use TIFF to bury myself under experimental and formally-inventive films. One nice side effect of this plan is that I’ve managed to avoid scheduling a single film in the massive and incredibly uncomfortable Ryerson Theatre. I’ve heard reports, though, that the Al Green theatre, where I will be seeing a lot of films and which is a new addition to the fest this year, is just as hard on the legs and back.

Here’s my complete schedule. Titles noted by asterisks (**) are films that I might see, depending upon word-of-mouth, ticket availability, and, as the festival progresses, my physical and psychological stamina. Like last year, I plan to post daily capsule reviews of everything I see, with the goal of writing longer responses to select films after I return home.

September 7

September 8

September 9

September 10

September 11

September 12

September 13

September 14

September 15

September 16

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