by Larry Richman
September 19, 2006 11:10 PM

Your intrepid film fan has returned from the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. Or as I could call it, "The Agony & The Ecstacy & The Odyssey." Or something like that. Actually, there wasn't much agony -- mostly ecstacy (no, not that kind, although it was an element in many of the films). In the end, I managed to see more than 30 films, mostly world premieres. In almost all cases the director, cast, and crew were present, and often seeing it for the very first time as well. They usually introduced the film and held a Q&A afterwards. Nothing can compare to sitting in a theater, watching a film, while the people onscreen are sitting with you. It's quite surreal. The director may have spent 7 years of his life on this film, and for 7 years thought, "here is where they will applaud," and as that moment happens onscreen you applaud, and he is sitting next to you, and you know he is thinking "yesssss!!!!!!!" It's something that only happens at film festivals and is one reason they are so exciting. And as if that wasn't enough, you often get to meet the actors and director afterwards and chat about their performances and what it took to make the film.

In almost every Q&A the topic of how long it took to make the film came up. I would say that the average was 5-7 years. A few took up to 10 years from start to finish, and the least was 4. Generally, it would be 1-3 years writing, 2-4 years raising funds, a year of pre-production, and a year of shooting and post-production. I heard over and over again how these filmmakers had spent 5-7 years of their lives on their films and that we were the first to see it. It's amazing sitting and watching a film, with the director and crew and cast present, and it's the very first time it's been seen (even by them) after 5-7 years of work. I can't imagine what that's like. Many of them scrounged up the funds from friends and family.

Then there is the basic conundrum: you need money to get the "names" but you need names to get the money (and other names). For example, director X could not get money or stars to make their film until actor Y read the script and loved it. Once he signed on, money flowed in. As soon as Y signed on, they got money, actor Z, more money, more names. Then the cycle works. But you have to start the cycle, and that's the hard part. I hear that over and over again at all the Q&As at all the festivals I have attended.

So the day you see a film you are witnessing the result of many years of work by many people. That's why I take the process of rating and reviewing films so seriously. I will summarize my favorites in the next blog entry.