 |
| Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves. Courtesy of TIFF |
This year’s Festival got off to a fun start with pre-festival coverage including researching and writing a profile for TIFF at The Canadian Encyclopedia. (It hasn’t been posted yet, but I’ll share it when it is.) Delving into the full history of TIFF gave some perspective on the massive undertaking that goes into an event of this scale, and it afforded an appreciation of how far the Festival has come since 1976. Perhaps the biggest surprise of my TIFF research was seeing that the Festival of Festivals originally launched as an effort to attract major Hollywood productions in an effort to bring attention to the Canadian film scene, so the obnoxiously loud presence of Hollywood and industry is for better or for worse a thunderous sign of goals achieved. TIFF is bigger and, for the most part, better than ever.
Low: Surge Pricing
Researching and profiling the Festival also heightened a
sense of betrayal with the introduction of surge pricing (or “demand based
pricing” as TIFF calls it) on single tickets. This new surcharge of $2-$7 on
popular titles simply added a sour note to the Festival. People were simply priced
out or had their passion for film exploited. While I benefited from having a
pass press, I opted not to buy some single tickets for premieres as I have in
the past in an effort to avoid inflating prices and, on some level, protesting
the change.
Reports from screenings were also damaging to the effect
that the surge pricing obviously influences one’s appreciation of the films, as
a film experience needs to be good to merit a $60 ticket. (One friend reported
of a couple storming out of Queen of Katwe
in disbelief that TIFF took $60 for a nosebleed balcony seat at Roy Thomson
Hall.) Worst of all, perhaps, was word from a friend who paid a $7 surcharge
for the second screening of Moonlight
and arrived at TIFF Bell Lightbox before 9 AM to discover that the venue wasn’t
even opening the balcony in Cinema 1. This meant that the Festival recognised a
demand for tickets to this screening and, rather than simply open the seats
that were going to sit empty, it simply charged more money for fewer seats in a
disappointing game of supply and demand. The whole mess of surge pricing ran
against the spirit of TIFF as “The People’s Festival” and is worse than any
criticism the Festival faced for its premiere game with Telluride. (Which, I think, they were in the right to do.) My sense was
that people begrudgingly paid the extra cost for premiere screenings with stars,
but recouped the money by purchasing fewer tickets and neglecting the sense of
discovery that smaller films at the Festival need from audiences eager to
explore.
Ticket prices were already exorbitantly high and TIFF
charges a premium cost for tickets to most of the in-demand titles anyways, so
the surcharge marked nothing but gouging. While the Festival’s pathetic
explanation of “everyone else is doing it” offered no justification as to where
the funds are going, or why they’re required, one must ask what this is all
about. The cost of running a screening at TIFF probably differs little if the
screening is full or empty, since the cost of the venue is the same unless it
runs overtime (which isn’t the public’s fault) and base ticket prices were
presumably made on an estimated level of attendance required to cover costs. The
Festival doesn’t offer screening fees to filmmakers and distributors and it
largely staffs the screenings with volunteers. TIFF needs to explain these
surcharges if it’s going to continue as a charity driven by the passion and
support of the public. Otherwise, anyone who signed off on demand-based pricing
should be fired or have the decency to resign. The spirit and reputation of the
Festival are at stake because TIFF has always thrived for being a testing ground
with a diverse audience that reflects the broad range of the general moviegoing
public. But the general public cannot and should not be exploited as much as
they were by surge pricing.
 |
| Arrival |
High: The Films
The Festival itself got off to a shaky start for me since
non-festival-related commitments consumed more time than anticipated and frayed
my nerves with endless emails. But things kicked up midway through when I
started enjoying films and got coverage back on track here and at POV for docs. (Check back soon for updates on reviews and interviews as more edits from POV should be coming in soon.)
The programming team did an overall excellent job from based
on the 47 titles I caught this year. There was a great range of high-calibre
films, particularly on the Canadian and documentary front, which comprised much
of what I saw. There was the best studio film of the year so far in Arrival, which catapulted Canuck Denis
Villeneuve to the status of a major player on par with Hollywood’s biggest
names. Then there were pleasant surprises like the closing night selection The Edge of Seventeen, which proved to
be wiser beyond the teen comedy angle its trailer suggests. Small gems came in
films like Nelly with a performance
that deserves to make Mylène Mackay a star or Raoul Peck’s I am Not Your Negro that gave a much-needed dose of black power on
the heels of two years of #OscarSoWhite. Peck’s film was far and away the best
doc of the Festival and a worthy winner of the People’s Choice Award for
documentary. (I wasn’t able to see La La
Land, despite efforts to pull a ticket.) Other doc highlights included the enthralling
ode to film with The Cinema Travellers,
the rousing Citizen Jane: Battle for the
City, and the darkly funny Safari.
 |
| Weirdos Courtesy of TIFF |
There was also the sweet relief of seeing a mix of new
Canadian voices and masters at the top of their game. Bruce McDonald had his
best film in years with Weirdos,
while Alanis Obomsawin crafted her name in history with the important doc We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice. Xavier
Dolan defied his Cannes critics and proved that his It’s Only the End of the World was bizarrely misunderstood and
dismissed. It’s a film of great power if one can endure the emotionally
exhausting experience. Deepa Mehta, on the other hand, created a new kind of
cinema with her daring and provocative Anatomy of Violence.
The Best of the Fest
 |
| Nocturnal Animals Courtesy of TIFF |
There was no clear standout at TIFF this year but rather an
excellent crop of films that rose above the pack. Weirdos was an early favourite of mine going into the Festival and
it sustained itself throughout, while Arrival
delivered on expectations with its thoughtful sci-fi and award-calibre
performance by Amy Adams. Adams also appeared in another of my festival
favourites, Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals,
which floored me with its devastatingly beautiful deconstruction of a marriage.
Isabelle Huppert made my skin crawl with the deliciously twisted Elle and Toni Erdmann brought a refreshing splash of comedy.
However, my pick for the best film of the festival must go
to Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie’s Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig
Their Own Graves. This radical film breaks all the rules as it
ingeniously crafts an essay centered around the 2012 student protests in
Montreal and uses a blend of drama and documentary to create a parable for
Canadian youth who live within the generation of no hope. Like Metha’s Anatomy of Violence, Graves creates a new space in cinema.
There is nothing like it. The formally audacious film carves its own place in
Canadian cinema with its morphing widescreen and countercultural spirit. I
absolutely live the tone of sheer defiance that screams throughout this film.
It articulates the angst of a generation with conviction and fury. Talking to
the directors for POV also proved to
be one of the most rewarding experiences of the festival (check back soon for
that interview) and I’m absolutely thrilled that the film scored the prize for
Best Canadian Feature. Catch it when it inevitably lands a spot on the list of Canada’s
Top Ten films for the year.
My picks for the top ten films of TIFF 2016 are, in
alphabetical order:
I am Not Your Negro
Those Who Make
Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves
Pat’s TIFF Awards:
Best Film: Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig
Their Own Graves
Runner-up: Nocturnal
Animals
Top Doc: I am Not Your Negro
Runner-up: The Cinema
Travellers
Best Lead Performance
– Female: Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Runner-up: Mylène Mackay, Nelly
Best Lead Performance
– Male: Peter Simonischek, Toni
Erdmann
Runner-up: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nocturnal Animals
Best Supporting
Performance – Female: Molly Parker, Weirdos
Runner-up: Nathalie Baye, It’s Only the End of the World
Best Supporting
Performance – Male: Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
Runner-up: Vansh Bhardwaj, Anatomy
of Violence
Best Ensemble Cast: Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig
Their Own Graves
Runner-up: It’s Only
the End of the World
Best Amy Adams: Amy
Adams, Arrival
Runner-up: Amy Adams, Nocturnal
Animals
Best Cat: Marty, Elle
Best Screenplay: Toni Erdmann
Best Cinematography: Nocturnal Animals
Best Score: Arrival
Best Q&A: Christopher
Guest and company, Mascots
Biggest Letdown: American Pastoral (although it’s nowhere
near as bad as people say it is)
Worst Film: Voyage of Time
Thanks to all the volunteers, programmers, fellow writers, publicists,
film fans, and everyone else at the fest who made this another great TIFF!
What are your #TIFF16 highlights?
Please visit www.tiff.net for more
information on this year’s festival.
More coverage on this year’s festival can be found here and doc
coverage may be found at the POV TIFF hub.
