How to make the most of TIFF at the last minute
August 30, 2017 11:35 AM Subscribe
I want to take my son to TIFF next month. We do not have a membership and did not get a package, so it's either individual tickets or rush tickets. What's the better option?
We are interested in seeing non-gala foreign movies, and if we can swing it, also one of the Short Cuts programmes. Maaaybe Midnight Madness too.
I don't know what to expect w.r.t. availability; is it safe to wait for rush tickets, or should I buy tickets for specific screenings before going? Ticket prices have doubled (!) since I last went to TIFF, so I would rather do rush tickets*--plus we like the idea of being kind of-sort of spontaneous with our movie selections (we do have a shortlist).
If we should get individual tickets, what do the price ranges on tiff.net mean? For example, in "$28-35" is the low end the member price, and the high end the non-member price?
If rush tickets are a safe bet, when should we head over to the venues? I remember skulking around the theatres and waiting for staff to put the "rush tickets" signs out, but can't remember how far ahead of time I did that.
Finally--any other tips would be appreciated :) We have food and transportation covered.
*We won't be bored in line. Son is a friendly teenager and has no qualms with chatting up strangers in line. Or doing stuff on his phone alone if they're reading. (I will be reading)
We are interested in seeing non-gala foreign movies, and if we can swing it, also one of the Short Cuts programmes. Maaaybe Midnight Madness too.
I don't know what to expect w.r.t. availability; is it safe to wait for rush tickets, or should I buy tickets for specific screenings before going? Ticket prices have doubled (!) since I last went to TIFF, so I would rather do rush tickets*--plus we like the idea of being kind of-sort of spontaneous with our movie selections (we do have a shortlist).
If we should get individual tickets, what do the price ranges on tiff.net mean? For example, in "$28-35" is the low end the member price, and the high end the non-member price?
If rush tickets are a safe bet, when should we head over to the venues? I remember skulking around the theatres and waiting for staff to put the "rush tickets" signs out, but can't remember how far ahead of time I did that.
Finally--any other tips would be appreciated :) We have food and transportation covered.
*We won't be bored in line. Son is a friendly teenager and has no qualms with chatting up strangers in line. Or doing stuff on his phone alone if they're reading. (I will be reading)
Best answer: I've never rushed a film at TIFF but I've seen at least 20 movies during the festival over the last 3 years. I always end up going to at least a few movies that are a lot less popular (never hit capacity) and thus I assume would be relatively easy to rush.
If you just want to see non-gala foreign movies, I think you would be OK to rush most of them, especially second or third screenings, and especially during the second half of the festival once things quiet down a bit. I'm not sure how popular the short film programmes are but I would hazard a guess that they generally aren't too busy.
When I have a ticket for a film, I generally still try to get in line about 45-60 minutes in advance so that I get a decent seat. If you're going to rush, I would assume you'd want to be there maybe about 60+ minutes in advance, but it would really depend on the popularity of the movie in question.
I like to use TIFFr to plan my festival schedule, and they have a feature where you can see how many other people have favourited a film. No guarantees, but that might be a useful metric for determining how relatively popular a specific film is.
Have fun!
posted by mr. manager at 1:25 PM on August 31, 2017
If you just want to see non-gala foreign movies, I think you would be OK to rush most of them, especially second or third screenings, and especially during the second half of the festival once things quiet down a bit. I'm not sure how popular the short film programmes are but I would hazard a guess that they generally aren't too busy.
When I have a ticket for a film, I generally still try to get in line about 45-60 minutes in advance so that I get a decent seat. If you're going to rush, I would assume you'd want to be there maybe about 60+ minutes in advance, but it would really depend on the popularity of the movie in question.
I like to use TIFFr to plan my festival schedule, and they have a feature where you can see how many other people have favourited a film. No guarantees, but that might be a useful metric for determining how relatively popular a specific film is.
Have fun!
posted by mr. manager at 1:25 PM on August 31, 2017
Response by poster: Thanks both of you for confirming that we should be there around an hour before :)
Also, thanks mr. manager for the TIFFr recommendation! I'm using it to plan our weekend.
posted by methroach at 9:43 AM on September 5, 2017
Also, thanks mr. manager for the TIFFr recommendation! I'm using it to plan our weekend.
posted by methroach at 9:43 AM on September 5, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by transient at 11:49 AM on August 30, 2017