What another amazing run this year at TIFF! I was really lucky I got all my first choices during the balloting process, because all my movies fell on the weekend. I didn’t have anything in particular I wanted to see this year aside from Smuggler, so I tried to find a mix of movies. I ended up seeing two from Japan, one Korean suspense movie, an Ukrainian movie, a Canadian feature and a documentary. Six is probably the max I try to watch, although I was upset I couldn’t fit a screening from the Short Cuts program. 

The first film I saw was called Land of Oblivion, which had its North American premiere at TIFF. The movie is a fictional portrayal of the Chernobyl disaster, as told from the point of view of the survivors. While it didn’t show scenes of the explosion or the nuclear reactor meltdown, the human perspective of the story was just as impactful. Part of the movie was actually filmed on location, in the area they call ‘the zone’. I found the movie to be very insightful. 

The second film I saw that day was called Letter to Momo. While it was a children’s movie, I definitely saw more adults in the theater when I glanced at the audience. The movie itself was sweet and left me slightly teary-eyed at the end. During the Q&A with the director, he explained how the entire movie was created using hand drawn animation, which took them seven years to make. Even though we’re working in the digital age, it’s amazing they would still take the time to produce things by hand. 

I saw Urbanized during my second day at the festival. Urbanized was directed by the same person who did Helvetica. The documentary itself was really insightful. It touched on many innovative urban designs revolving around issues like public housing problems, crime reduction through urban design, building successful public transportation systems, importance of public spaces, etc. At the Q&A for the movie, the director made an apology to any Colombians in the theater, as well as to any graphic designers. Apparently he had a typo in his film. =P

I’m Yours was the last film I saw that day. The story follows the two main characters as they travel together from New York City all the way to the middle of nowhere in Northern Canada. The film was mostly shot in North Bay, which is around 3-4 hours from Toronto. I found the movie to be a little strange in parts, but it was still reasonably good for a Canadian feature. 

This past weekend I saw the remaining two films on my list. First up was Smuggler, directed by Ishii Katsuhito. I was really lucky to meet the director after the Q&A. He stayed behind to sign autographs and to take pictures with fans. My photo turned out really grainy cause I took it with my phone, so I won’t post it here.

The movie itself was really funny. It was a mix of horror and comedy. Director Ishii told us at the beginning that if we weren’t sure which it was, he’d prefer if we laughed. =)

I thought the entire cast was great in Smuggler. It was really my first time watching a film with Tsumabuki Satoshi and I really enjoyed his acting. The story itself was absurd and overly exaggerated, but all the characters were really fun to watch. (Not to mention all the ikemens that were on screen. I think I lost count at 4.) My surprise discovery: Ando Masanobu. He was just amazing as Vertebrae (背骨）and the action scenes with him fighting with the nunchaku was stunning. I actually ended up paying more attention to him than Tsumabuki, because Tsumabuki got really ugly towards the end of the movie. LOL. Anyway, this movie was really lots of fun and I highly recommend watching it.

My last movie at TIFF was Countdown. I haven’t watched many Korean movies in recent years, but this one has to be one of my favourites. The storyline was intriguing and the characters were just smart. The plot had many twists and turns that kept everyone guessing till the very end. Aside from the action, there was also a nice side story that added a human touch to the movie. I thought all the elements went well together. It’s great to be able to end the festival on a high note. =)

There we have it, my TIFF11 experience! I’m glad I had another great run this year. Until next year!