So, the 2009 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is just over a month away now. Over 130 films have been announced, and that number is likely to grow to over 300 by the time every film is announced in mid-August.<\/p>\n
With so many films, most of which by filmmakers that nobody has heard of, but many by best-of-the-best auteurs, I wanted to make a semi-objective system for deciding what I would be seeing. I have 9 student day-passes, one for each day of the festival (not counting the first day which is just the opening night and a few other films) which allow me to see as many films as I possibly can fit into each day, which will more than likely be 4, maybe<\/span> 5 if I catch some shorties like Manoel de Oliveira’s new one (about an hour long), per day. So, I’ll just say 40 films is my goal.<\/p>\n So I made a chart that gives points for different categories that I think are good standards for picking films in the festival. Last year I made the mistake of catching films like The Wrestler<\/span> and Synecdoche, NY<\/span>, two films I loved but could have waited a few months for, but I am so grateful for the chance to have seen Birdsong<\/span>, Dernier Maquis<\/span>, and 35 Rhums<\/span>, which haven’t seen any sign of distribution in Toronto in the year since I saw them. So this year, films that already have distribution are out, including films I’m dying to see like Broken Embraces<\/span>, A Serious Man, <\/span>and likely to be announced films like The White Ribbon<\/span>, Antichrist<\/span>, and Where the Wild Things Are<\/span>.<\/p>\n I’ve only done skimming research on most of the ‘unknown’ films listed below, so any recommendations, for or against a film, are welcome. This is a key for all of the categories:<\/p>\n Premiere<\/span>: World Premiere = 4 pts.; International Premiere = 3; North American Premiere = 2; Canadian Premiere = 1; Films already available, either through download, youtube, or DVD = 0 (this applies to City of Life and Death<\/span>, which recently showed up in its entirety on youtube). And now the chart, with films ranked by their total points. Again, suggestions welcome and will be strongly considered.<\/p>\n
Critics<\/span>: the general reaction from critics that I respect on the film. I’ve estimated the scores here, so it gets close to 10 if it screened at a festival (Cannes, for instance) and picked up awards and good word-of-mouth, closer to 0 if it was panned. Films that have never been reviewed I give 5, just so the film isn’t penalized for not premiering already. As Venice plays out, many of the films in the Toronto line-up will screen, and I will adjust their scores in this category accordingly.
Desirable<\/span>: My subjective anticipation for each title, based on the filmmaker, reviews, images, stills, trailers, critical reaction, synopsis, et al.
Theatrical Dist<\/span>.: The likelihood that each film will get a US and Canadian theatrical run, based on the filmmakers’ past works getting distribution or not, the film’s country’s rep for distribution, and my personal hunch.
Director<\/span>: Where I feel the director’s past works ranks in Contemporary World Cinema, on a scale of 0-5. Filmmakers making their debuts, or if they are just not familiar to me, receive 0 in this category, unfortunately.
DVD<\/span>: The likelihood that the film will be distributed on DVD, which similar criteria that I use for the ‘TheatricalDist.’ category.
Country<\/span>: Films made in North America or the UK receive 0, and all other countries receive 1 point here.<\/p>\n