TIFF 2018: WMW's Picks

TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) is one of the most exciting times of year in Toronto - and one of my favourite things to experience each year! I would get a bit down the past couple of years around this time knowing that I wasn't able to indulge in the fantastic and diverse films shown at the Festival. 

The sheer number of films shown at TIFF is mind bogling and can be hard to sift through all the terrific picks on offer. To help narrow it down, below are the films that I am most looking forward to this year:

Gala Presentations:

• Beautiful Boy

• Everybody Knows

• First Man

• Galveston

• The Hate U Give

• High Life

• The Kindergarten Teacher

• The Land of Steady Habits

• The Public

• A Star is Born

• Widows

Special Presentations

• Anthropocene

• Ben is Back

• Burning

• Can You Ever Forgive Me?

• Capernaum

• Colette

• The Front Runner

• Giant Little Ones

• Girls of the Sun

• Hotel Mumbai

• Monsters and Men

• The Old Man and the Gun

• Red Joan

• The Death and Life of John F Donovan

• The Sisters Brothers

• Through Black Spruce

• The Wedding Guest

• White Boy Rick

• Wildlife

Documentaries

• Divide and Conquer: Story of Roger Ailes

• The Elephant Queen

• Fahrenheit 11/9

• Ghost Fleet

• Graves Without A Name

• Heartbound

• Meeting Gorbachev

• This Changes Everything

• Putin's Witnesses

• Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz

• What is Democracy?

Contemporary World Cinema:

• Les Salopes or the Naturally Wonton Pleasure of Skin

Discovery:

• Freaks

• Firecrackers

Platform:

• Destroyer

• Her Smell

• Out of the Blue

Special Events:

• Sharkwater: Extinction

TIFF Tips

To get the best chance of getting tickets to your top picks, here are a few suggestions:

• Load the TIFF website the morning of September 3rd before the portal for tickets opens at 10am so you're ready. Once the clock hits 10am, click to purchase tickets. You'll likely need to wait in a queue, but the sooner you do it, the higher up you'll be in line.

• Have your wish list of films prepared ahead of time. Once your slot in the queue opens, you'll only have a limited period of time to select and purchase your films. You don't want to waste time researching the 300+ films on offer during your slot!

• In addition to your wish list, make sure you have your back-ups selected as well. The Gala and Special Presentation films are hardest to get. However, note that you have a pretty good chance at seeing the biggest films when they are replayed later in the festival (and usually less expensive).

• Rush tickets are a great option to try and see any films that you don't get tickets for. To get these tickets, you need to go to the venue early ahead of time to line up. Essentially, all ticket holders will be let in first; TIFF staff will then determine how many free spots are in the theatre and will let that amount of people in during the 10 minutes prior to the film starting. Have cash in hand ready to purchase quickly as this is the only form of payment accepted. Tickets are $20 for regular screenings and $40 for premium screenings.

• If you haven't got tickets to any of the films (or even if you do), head down to the King West area between Roy Thomson Hall and the TIFF Bell Lightbox to take in all the excitement, buzz and activities, and maybe catch a glimpse of a few celebrities!