Swept Up in the Glamour of the Toronto Film Festival

I have discovered a wonderful new way to combine business with pleasure, which was evidenced quite by accident when I visited Toronto last week.  As I was setting up sales presentations for my resort marketing of our portfolio, I learned that the Toronto Film Festival was unfolding at the same time as my visit. Voila!

It seemed that I would be joining Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift and a host of other A-list actors and producers for their red carpet arrivals, except mine would be minus the red carpet and more of a stand in line approach.

I did get one precious ticket to the best movie I have seen in a long time, and which held the buzz the entire week, "August: Osage County".  Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and a ton of terrific character actors.  What a beautifully written script and how exquisitely acted!   Meryl Streep will win an academy award for this film. That is my prediction.  She is the best actress we have known in my lifetime and yours, and we never think she can outdo herself in her next role, but she does.

 This was the first time the performance was given before an audience.  The director, John Wells introduced the film to us and said he and the editing team had just finished the final cut a few days before it was shipped to Toronto.  He expressed his amazement that it was actually done in time, and was pleased with the outcome. The film was shown to a sold out audience in an exquisite theater, the Elgin, which dates back to 1914.  The glamour and nostalgia that it represents was not lost on me, a lover of all Hollywood-related glitterati when movies and theaters were gilded, grand, and gorgeous.  The Elgin ceiling is just part of the stunning details that were lovingly preserved in this theater that usually houses the opera and ballet.

Also, my dear friend and colleague, Ellie MacPherson from Sunquest Meetings & Incentives, secured two tickets for us to an obscure film named "Tracks."  It turned out to be not about drug addicts, but about a woman who plays the Australian, Robyn Davidson, who treks across the Australian desert in 1977 with her dog and four,often ill-tempered camels.  She does this for the most part alone, especially since we sense at the beginning that her Black Lab will be having a foreshortened life during this 1,700 mile pilgrimage.  She does have an intermittent encounter with the disbelieving Aborigine natives, the kind and irritating National Geographic photographer, and the annoying tourists wanting to take her picture as she became famous as "The Camel Woman," etc.  She completes the journey and makes it clear across the desert to the sea without a hat or sunblock.  Whew! Riveting and fascinating story.

After the film was shown, we were thrilled to meet the real Robyn Davidson and the actress who played Ms. Davidson in the movie, Ms. Wasikowska. During a brief Q & A, Ms. Davidson shared with us that the camels were terrific companions and the Black Lab was a real pain in the hump, as far as I could tell.

TIFF (as we in the know call it) is one of the most dynamic events in the movie industry because obscure films are shown as well as the celebrity films and deals are done there.  The fans are amazingly loyal, dedicated and supportive.  And we got to VOTE for the films that should "go wide" (as we in the know call it). See you at the movies!