ARTS AND CULTURE 13
@STRANDPAPER THE STRAND | 28 SEPTEMBER 2021
TIFF 2021: a return to in-person
A Piece of Vic: Community in times like these
TIFF is back to normal! Except not really. But kind of! LIAM DONOVAN CONTRIBUTOR
If you grew up in Toronto, your relationship with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was likely a little strange. At first, hearing adults talk about something called a “TIFF” at the dinner table means nothing. Then, you realize it’s a cool thing called a “film festival” that happens in your city. Eventually, though, you find out that it’s not just any film festival, but a world-class one of considerable size that plays a large role in generating buzz for the upcoming Oscars season. Together with the beginning of the school year, TIFF ordinarily imbues September in Toronto with a lively and unpredictable energy; however, in 2020, the festival, though technically hybrid, ended up essentially online due to limited availability of in-person tickets to the general public. This year, though, there were more than enough tickets to go around. That’s not to say things were as before— popcorn wasn’t sold, theatres ran at 50 percent capacity, and you had to show your vaccine receipt to bouncers in tuxedos who were far more imposing than the usually cheerful festival volunteers. I had the chance to catch three screenings at the festival. At the Cinesphere, I saw Indian director Ritwik Pareek’s Dug Dug, a satire about the religious worship of a motorcycle. Then, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, I saw Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s English/Spanishlanguage debut, Memoria, a slow arthouse film starring Tilda Swinton about a mysterious noise in Swinton’s character’s head. Finally, also at the Lightbox, I saw this year’s Wavelengths shorts program, Present, Tense, which featured two hours’
worth of experimental short films. All three screenings were embellished in their own way by the in-person TIFF experience. In Dug Dug’s approach to satire, instead of setting up punchlines for individual jokes, the ridiculousness of the situation creates an atmosphere that is comedic throughout. As the film employed fast-paced montages to rapidly barrel through the exposition, waves of laughter rippled through the theatre as a collective acknowledgement of the absurdity of what the audience had gathered to watch. Memoria has an opposite pace, employing long, motionless takes to build up the emotional world of the film. With a film so slow, many audience members would have likely paused to pee or check their phone if they had watched it at home, but the age-old social custom of sitting in darkened silence to view a film helped the audience get through the film as Weerasethakul intended it—boredom and all. Finally, the Wavelengths program featured films projected from 35mm film, so the filmmaker’s experimental exploration of the physical qualities of filmstock were far more perceptible. Additionally, in the case of Daïchi Saïto’s earthearthearth, the booming speakers helped foreground Jason Sharp’s explorative score, which featured heartbeat-synced saxophone playing. Even though TIFF is, on some level, all about the films, it is also not at all about the films. It’s about the shared rituals of viewing, from preand post-show chats to audience callbacks to suppressed giggling with a friend about an inside joke that happened to be featured in a film. So, in my books, TIFF is back.
How VISA builds communities like no other NATHAN CHING CONTRIBUTOR
When I was asked to talk about VISA (Victoria International Students Association), I couldn’t choose one story in particular that would encompass the multifaceted community-building exercises we’ve done. But just as I’ve mentioned community in my last sentence, I’ve realized that the story I need to tell is one that really reflects the common denominator of every VISA story—community. As a student studying abroad for the first time, Toronto was a lonely city at times. It was often difficult being an outsider in a city you don’t truly understand, and so, during my first year at Vic, it was tough to meet friends and get to know people. But as it turns out, nobody’s truly alone—especially not at Vic. I remember meeting Faye (VISA’s co-president that year) during my international student orientation, as she was one of my mentors. During my second year, when COVID hit, Faye told me all about VISA and their work with the Dean’s Office in providing opportunities for international students to get to know each other. So, I applied to become the events director. I specifically remember the night before our flagship event, when I was panicking and told Faye over Zoom that I was worried about my performance as a director and that I didn’t feel like I was ready. She told me that whatever happens, the team would be there together to support each other—and it was at that moment that I felt I truly belonged at Vic. I grew up in an intimate high school community in Hong Kong, which meant competition and friendship often went hand in hand. As a result, I was accustomed to having “work-hard-play-hard” friends. At UofT, you meet all kinds of people. While this diversity in students and personalities can create communities that may not always suit you, once you’ve found your people, you needn’t look any further. I’ve found ILLUSTRATION | SEAVEY VAN WALSUMmy people at Vic through VISA, and I cannot tell you how much I’ve missed having this sense of community. Community within this wild, wide world is difficult to find, but VISA has helped me build strong relationships between me, my friends, and the larger Vic community. This year, we’re expanding our operations and hiring sub-teams as part of a new membership experience in order to give back the feeling of community to students at Vic. As I serve as VISA’s co-president, Faye’s words are what drive me to bring the feeling of home to international students. So, to the international students reading this: welcome home. To learn more about VISA and/or to apply for an executive position, interested students can contact nathanchingtk.ching@mail.utoronto.ca or vicu.visa@gmail.com. PHOTO | VISA
