There’s no film festival quite like Toronto. Cannes may have the industry clout, Venice the glitter, gondolas and mosquitoes. But Toronto international film festival (Tiff) has the audience. And what an audience! In previous years, I found the sheer force of a Tiff welcome – loudly vocal, disconcertingly friendly, tirelessly enthusiastic – a little overbearing. But having attended the festival “virtually” for the past two years, it’s a joy to be back among a crowd that is so uninhibited in its passion, so knowledgable and curious about cinema.
The Tiff 2022 audience gave veteran director of photography Roger Deakins a rock star’s welcome when he briefly appeared on stage to introduce a film; leapt to its feet in a spontaneous standing ovation to honour Steven Spielberg before a frame of his film had even been screened. For this crowd, as one intense, highly caffeinated film student tells me, cinema is not just entertainment, it’s EVERYTHING.
