TIFF Talk: Detroit Unleaded & My History at TIFF

I had to review the tiff film schedule very quickly and make my decision fast in a matter of a few hours on Aug 21st when the schedule was released. I did my best in reviewing the brief synopsis of all the films, and some films didn't have a description of it, so I was making decisions on those I could read up on. So as I learned today, tiff tweeted a comment about a cool indie film that was made right here in Detroit. They posted the YouTube link of 'Detroit Unleaded', and after I watched it, I knew this was something I wanted to see. An article about the film is at today's Detroit Free Press. Have a look for yourself.

Now, the dilemma I face is that I have submitted my request to my friend Glenn and he is still working on getting all the tickets. Each year, tiff change the ticket distribution process, each and every year, and this year, yet again, there are some hiccups and migraines involved for all (unless you are a Contributor at the very top tier), but I'm sure he'll get it all sorted out. In a nutshell, as I come to take notice of films that I have overlooked in my haste of trying to submit my list to Glenn, I will have to join in on that horrible Single Ticket Day sale craziness, in order to buy tickets on my own if I want to see a film that missed out of being included in the set I sent to Glenn. You may wonder why I don't just ask Glenn to add it on. Well, he's already covering my ass in ways that are beyond the call of duty and which have single handily removed 99% of the stress from me in helping me enjoy tiff to its fullest. Basically, the man has done MORE than enough for me in the past and in the foreseeable future. So if I want to see something else that comes up on my radar after the fact, I will just have to buy the tickets myself on single ticket day, September 2nd at 10am.

TIFF Single Ticket Sale Day

Now note that 9/2 is a Sunday... prior years, single tickets went on sale on a Saturday or on a weekday. Now it's a Sunday, a leisure day for most people, therefore that means MORE people will be free to get online and buy tickets. Great, just great! The www.tiff.net website ALWAYS crashes on single ticket sale day because people all over the world are trying to buy single tickets at... tah-da, the same damn time!!! So, basically, I need to get up, have breakfast, use the bathroom, take a chill pill, have coffee, not tea - I'll need the caffeine - and fight for a single ticket. Screenings sell out like crazy and literally, right in your face. You can have a ticket to a film in your cart, go to click on 'buy', and on the next screen, that bitch is sold out because someone else in Tokyo bought their ticket to that same screening, .39 seconds sooner than you did. Sucka! It ain't right, but that's tiff life. Even if you are trying to buy one ticket to a less popular screening, the entire tiff website will be S.L.O.W for HOURS due to the heavy website traffic.

From A2 to T.O. - Once Upon a Time

Prior to me befriending Glenn at an online film and entertainment forum message board (Gold Derby), I could only afford to spend 2 1/2 days (early Friday to late afternoon Sunday) at TIFF because I was responsible for transportation to and from Toronto, 2 days hotel that was hiked up due to TIFF, and the film tickets. And back in those lean years (2004-2009), I was lucky to be able to see 3 films, at most, because I also wanted to eat and celebrity watch. Each year there would be a tiff thread and me and Glenn and other people would post about the films we saw and the celebrities. I then started to respond directly to Glenn, and he would respond back in kind. Eventually our discourse would migrate to private messages, and then to email. And as 2009 came around, Glenn offered to assist me in procuring some film tickets that year. Because of him, I was able to, with ease, see a few movies that year per his courtesy. As an aside, the year 2009 was especially difficult for me as I lost my job earlier that summer and was then significantly underemployed and really had no business going to tiff. But if ever there was a time for me to attend, that was the time as it was a mental saving grace.  I saw Fish Tank on Friday, and Glen and I met up at the theater and we watched Anti-Christ on a Saturday morning together. The next year, he extended to me an invitation to stay in his renovated basement apartment during tiff; this September will be my third year as his guest, and to this very moment, I cannot truly express in mere words just how invaluable his friendship and hospitality is to me. Now I can see at least a dozen films and stay for six days. Toronto has always held a special place in my heart. I first visited this fantastic city back in 1990 and I have seen many changes overtime, and to be there during tiff makes me feel a stronger affinity to the city with hopes of it someday being a place I can call home.