Binzento Vincente: Toronto Interntional Film Festival

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Toronto Interntional Film Festival - Better Than I Thought

TIFF12 - Better Than Expected

The ten days 2012 Toronto International Film Festival ended this weekend with the final closing gala film “Song of Marion”. To be honest, as much as how high profile this film festival is in North America, I didn’t expect anything spectacular when I first saw the films that were selected for this year’s line up. I found many of the films were somewhat too mainstream for my taste, as I usually enjoyed more independent production and foreign film works. However I have to say though the result was better than I anticipated (maybe good experience sometimes comes when least expected). Despite of the long-lines and hassles for tickets, it was still considered well organized, and I just really enjoyed the entire city’s energy and vibe. After all, the festival is not about red-carpet glamour, but a business opportunity between filmmakers and buyers & distributors. The stars also showed a more casual side to friendly Canadian fans. Binzento was able to attend several red carpet gala screenings, parties, and even met a couple directors. I’ve been trying to keep up the day-to-day activities of the last ten days of the festival. I guess my highlights were “saying hi” to Ryan Gosling, meeting an aspiring filmmaker at Starbucks by chance, and finally got to see Christopher Walken in person. Below are some of the recaps of the last ten days of the festival… (photos courtesy: Binzento Vincente, She Does The City, Canadian Press)