And TIFF 2005 is o'vah! And least for me and Roro. 9 films in 6 days. Whew. Saw some amazing films and some films that could use another pass through the cutting room. Nothing that I HATED which is great. Film thoughts/reactions have been posted in separate entries. But a bit about the festival experience. I had a really great time this year .. some highlights:
New Festing Tip .. I admit it, I was mocking everyone who I saw carrying around their big festival programme books. But THEN at the end of one of the films, I saw a guy with his book, go up to the director and one of the stars and asked them to sign their movie's page in his book. Now THAT is a great idea. To everyone I mocked, I apologize.
Worst Question from the Audience .. Following Beowolf & Grendel, the first comment/question from the audience was, "Yeah, I, uh, saw this film at the first screening. Me and all my friends thought it was pretty lame. We couldn't understand over 50% of it. This time, I understood more. I just wanted to ask, given that I couldn't understand the film, I'd, uh, like you to comment on what you see are its, uh, weaknesses." Shut up. On the plus side, aside from this one comment, this Q&A session was one of the best I have been to.
Most Hilarious Moment while Waiting in Line .. 
On Thursday afternoon while waiting to see U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, it was hot. We were waiting in the 25 feet of line that was in the direct beating sun in front of the Elgin. I have a super-low tolerance for being uncomfortable, so I was very fidgety. I had a magazine but didn't have my sunglasses, so I couldn't read because the reflection hurt my eyes. Roro had her classes; she tried very hard to just ignore me and not FREAK OUT. Luckily I had my camera phone. I started snapping a few pix: the street, a bike, a sign; then, turning to the woman next to me in line, I said, "Hi, I'm hot and bored. I know I don't know you, but can I take your picture?" Roro tried to melt into the wall. The woman looked at me over the top of her sunglasses, "Uh, OK. Sure." I then said, wanting to ensure full disclosure, "It might end up on my blog." She looked up from her book. "On your blog? Sure. No problem." So that amused me for about 30 seconds.
Best Quotable Line .. From The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. Scene: man (piano tuner) and woman (housekeeper of mad scientist) in the woods. Man leaning against tree with eyes closed. Woman holds pinecone up to his nose. He sniffs. "Is this the real forest?" she asks. She then pulls her arm out of her sleeveless dress, raises it up to reveal her unshaven armpit, guides his nose to said armpit and asks, "Or is *this* the real forest?" I'm pretty confident that there is some deep meaning to this, but I'm a hick and do not get it (for the record, I have NO issues with women not shaving their pits). Seriously. What's the metaphor here?
That about covers it. LOVE the film fest. See y'all next year!