September 17, 2023. It’s past 9 pm, and as I walk away from the lights, dreams, visions, and the passionate crowd of TIFF ‘23 for the last time, my soul is satiated like never before in my one year in Toronto.
On a quaint spring evening in May, a friend told me over dinner that TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) was accepting volunteer applications. A skeptic at first, I had casually filed my resume and answered the application questionnaire honestly but without much introspection.
Fast-forward to a pleasant Friday evening in July, and the acceptance email from TIFF 2023 popped into my inbox.
That was the start of something truly beautiful.
The World of TIFF 2023 and How I Reinvented Myself in 10 Days
As the festival days came closer, though, the news of the WGA strike, followed by the SAG-AFTRA strike, loomed like a dark cloud above TIFF ‘23. Unabashedly, I’ll admit that my idea of world cinema so far was rigidly one-dimensional (read: Hollywood-centered), and I wondered if the volunteering role would even be worth it.
My friends from home would hype me up, and ask me to take selfies and autographs of famous Hollywood stars, but I knew that wouldn’t be the case. Personally, I regretted not volunteering last year, simply because The Whale cast had attended it (and I a die-hard fan of one of the casts).
But the first time I walked down King Street with the Coming Soon banners around me, I felt magic brewing in the air, calling out to me and lulling me in. And boy, oh boy, on the first day of the festival, I was anything but disappointed.
A Snippet into Life as a TIFF Volunteer
Everything about volunteering at TIFF is crisp and simple. Right during the orientation, you’ll receive a volunteer manual (also available on their volunteer portal) that lists everything from available roles to dress code to how to reserve/cancel shifts. TIFF members also do a wonderful job of warmly welcoming everyone
Something to note here is that TIFF has a number of venues (scattered at walking distance from each other), and you can actually choose your preferred venues. But whether your preference will be approved or not depends on TIFF. Regardless of this, the next steps will involve collecting your volunteer t-shirt and ID card (they have optional language badges), and some optional venue-specific training.
The shifts in themselves are quite simple but rewarding if you love interacting with people. I didn’t but surprisingly I enjoyed doing that because the crowd was mostly cinema lovers and I felt more comfortable than I had imagined.
Reviews of My Watchlist at TIFF 2023
As an international student juggling college, assignments, and work, dedicating a lot of time to movies is but a beautiful dream. Even though we, as volunteers, had unlimited free access to public screenings of movies (through ‘rush’ lines and ticket vouchers), I wasn’t sure if I could fit any movie into my schedule.
I wasn’t even sure which ones to prioritize, given that they were all uncharted territories for me. Barely any familiar actor, director, or studio to influence my choices. Yet, I somehow ended up watching 5 full-length features and a bunch of short films and regretting none of ‘em.
Here’s a quick review of these movies in the order in which I watched them:
1. ShortCuts 5
This year’s TIFF had 6 different ShortCuts, each with a unique movie line-up and I have never seen one open to a single empty seat in the theaters. Hoorah short filmmakers!
I. WOACA: Mackenzie Davis | United Kingdom
One problem with ‘rush’ing a screening is that you might miss out on the first few minutes, but I don’t think I missed much here (credits to the intro promos). The IMDB link of this short describes the storyline as: She puts the lotion on the face (repeated 8x). And that’s all the movie is about – a comic take on the horror of trying to ‘look perfect’.
P.S. I still don’t know what the title means, and the movie failed to make cackle or gasp but the audience seemed to love it.
My Rating: 2.5/5*
II. A Bird Called Memory by Leonardo Martinelli
This 14-minute short is about a trans woman searching for her pet bird, Memory, who has lost its way home in a city that doesn’t exactly feel like home. But as you watch the movie, the unexpected friendships, and the impromptu dances, this movie feels so much more.
My Rating: 3/5*.
III. Sawo Matang by Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto
This film is set against the backdrop of the cultural divides between native Indonesians and Chinese immigrants and deals with black magic. The story and casting were good, but perhaps because of my ignorance of Indonesian culture (specifically the black magic context), the film did not sit very well with me.
My Rating: 2.5/5*.
IV. Aphasia by Marielle Dalpé
A very short film, even for short films, this animated endeavor breaks down the slowly falling apart world of Alzheimer’s patients. The animation style and the dialogues were pretty jarring, and they served their purpose.
My rating: 3/5*.
This ShortCuts screening had a total of 7 films, and just one post is too short to talk about all of them. Leave out the rest for part II, shall we?
2. The King Tide
I was referred to this movie by a wonderful person, Devon, whom I met at the CMPA Awards at TIFF 2023. Devon was a key member of this film’s production team. Thanks to his input, I can finally say that this Canadian production, shot entirely in the stunning landscapes of Newfoundland, is my FAVORITE on the list.
The movie begins with a pretty unique premise: On the night a mother loses her child during birth, a newborn baby washes up the shore in a row boat. Ten years later, the baby has grown into a lovely girl named Isla (Alicia West Lefler) whose miraculous powers to heal humans, grow crops, and attract fish have united the island community. However, when faced with the changes of adolescence, Isla’s powers develop unexpected consequences, and the community needs to deal with it together.
The plot immediately reminded me of Emanual Garcia’s ‘magical realism,’ which is characterized by a sudden magical event happening in an otherwise mundane reality. Just like Garcia’s stories, there was no attempt to explain the origin of the magic, and rightly so. Magical realism, in its truest sense, is less about magic and more about how humans react to something they can neither understand nor ignore.
Stellar cast performance, sleek direction, a thumping background score, and the breathtaking New Foundland backdrop made this film worthy of TIFF.
My rating: 4/5*.
Interested to know more about volunteering at TIFF, the best film awards, and the remaining movies I watched during the 10-day cinema extravaganza? Subscribe to my blog and stay tuned for Part II of my TIFF ‘23 volunteering experience.
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