From awkward Q&As to joyful crowds, the highs and lows of the Toronto International Film Festival

Next time, maybe don't ask Park Seo-joon for a selfie in a Q&A...

After 10 days of neglecting my apartment for the love of cinema, I can sadly confirm that life is back to normal now that the Toronto International Film Festival has come and gone.

Look, I am very glad to go back to regular sleeping hours. But do I miss watching back-to-back movies seven days a week and going to bed past midnight? HECK YES. It only comes once a year. This is like Christmas to me.

As outlined in last week’s post, it was indeed a strange year at TIFF. At a time when the biggest celebrities from Hollywood and around the world come to Toronto (and actually give Canada some love), many were largely absent due to ongoing Hollywood strikes.

Nevertheless, I still got to see some celebrities. But more importantly, I got to hear rare conversations from the likes of Park Seo-joon, Lee Byung-hun and Andy Lau speak at length about their careers (I’ll write about those another day!). In fact, my parents were pretty excited about the latter. After all, Lau is considered one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop, and an actor who became notable during the Hong Kong New Wave film movement. I wrote about Lau in a comprehensive piece about Cantopop for GRAMMY earlier this year.

While I largely enjoyed the experience in my second year as a press member, TIFF did come with its hiccups.

So below, I am going to share some of the highs, lows and surprises of my experience this year.

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High: The Boy and the Heron might not be Miyazaki’s last?

Despite watching this film after a 6am shift, being part of one of the first North American audiences to see Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron felt really special.

The film is a coming-of-age tale about a boy who struggles to settle in a new town in the countryside following his mother’s death. Unable to fit in with his new classmates and get along with his new stepmother (which also happens to be his aunt), the boy eventually gets caught up with a mysterious grey heron, who brings him into an alternate world. Elements of the story are autobiographical to Miyazaki’s childhood. When he was young, his family also had to evacuate from the city during the war.

The Boy and the Heron was said to be Miyazaki’s final film before retirement. But according to an interview with CBC News, Studio Ghibli executive Junichi Nishioka said the 82-year-old auteur is still heading to the office with new ideas.

"Other people say that this might be his last film, but he doesn't feel that way at all," Nishioka told the outlet through a translator. "He is currently working on ideas for a new film. He comes into his office every day and does that. This time, he's not going to announce his retirement at all. He's continuing working just as he has always done."

Thank goodness!

Biggest surprise: Quiz Lady

Sometimes a simple storyline goes a long way. And Jessica Yu’s Quiz Lady was an absolute delight!

While I often find that Awkwafina tends to be typecast as the funny sidekick, I actually found her very endearing in this film. Here, she plays a cardigan-clad, reserved and quiet woman named Anne, whose biggest highlights of her life are her dog Mr. Linguini and a daily quiz show. She’s nothing like her trainwreck of a big sister (played by the hilarious Sandra Oh). With streaked coloured hair, wild outfits and a spontaneous personality, Jenny is someone with good intentions, albeit extremely chaotic.

While the pair are estranged, they are soon forced together by circumstances to help pay off their mother’s gambling debts. Their big plan? Go on a quiz show. Turns out Anne is pretty good at knowing random facts! What ensues are a number of hilarious obstacles that eventually bond the sisters back together.

What made this film work so well for me is truly the chemistry between Sandra Oh and Awkwafina. They play off each other so well! From physical humour to sisterly love, they are a big part about what makes this comedy such an endearing watch. Will Ferrell, who co-produced the film, also makes an appearance as the quiz show’s host. And while his characters can sometimes get on my nerves, he was lovable and kind in the role. There is also a special cameo in this movie, which I shall not spoil.

But overall, this would make for a very fun Friday watch. The film officially comes out on Hulu November 3rd.

Low: Awkward audience Q&As

Part of the fun of going to TIFF is actually getting a chance to ask the director and actors a question about the film after it’s shown on the big screen. It’s a rare opportunity to gain behind-the-scenes insight on a project or someone’s career. However, more often than not, the questions people ask are not great.

They’re usually generic questions like: What inspired the movie? How did you prepare for the role? What is your favourite part of Toronto?

But this year, some audience members took it a step further to try and have their Y/N moments.

At both talks with Andy Lau and Park Seo-joon and Lee Byung-hun, people raised their hands and seriously asked the actors for autographs and selfies. Full body cringe!

In other instances, people would spend more time sharing personal anecdotes than actually asking a thoughtful question. At one point, Andy Lau asked a fan “Do you have an actual question?”

But the cringiest moment for me came when someone yelled across the room to try and pitch the plot of his script to Sylvester Stallone. Yikes!

I love that TIFF has always prided itself on being a public festival. But moderation during these Q&As need to happen. It’s not a concert or fan meet. It’s a privilege to get to learn about the craft of filmmaking.

But if I’m being honest, the chaos was a bit entertaining to witness…I just don’t think it’s fair for the panelists or the rest of the audience.

High: International star power!

While most K-pop groups don’t often come to Canada, fans were clearly excited to see big Korean stars touch down in Toronto.

From Lee Byung-hun, Park Bo-young, Park Seo-joon, Kim Hee-ae to Jang Dong-gun, it was heartening to see them receive such a warm welcome.

It does make me wonder however, what pressures will face the Korean film and TV industry in the coming months as Hollywood strikes don’t really see signs of stopping at the moment.

Netflix has clearly seen huge successes in Korean content like Squid Game, All of Us are Dead and The Glory in recent years. So much so, that it was announced this past April that the streaming service would invest $2.5 billion in South Korean content in the next four years to produce more dramas, movies and reality shows.

Makes me wonder whether any of this will take away from the causes Hollywood writers and actors are currently trying to bring to light.

Final thoughts: What does the future of TIFF look like?

It was certainly an unprecedented year for a major film festival, but TIFF has long had to overcome other challenges. From SARS, COVID-19 to now Hollywood strikes, the event had to make changes to its programming and line-ups in terms of promotion.

What I found most fascinating of all is how actors under SAG-AFTRA responded.

Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA Duncan Crabtree-Ireland attended the red carpet for festival-opener The Boy and the Heron as an official guest.

Jessica Chastain, who was in town promoting Memory also stressed the importance of paying more attention to working class actors: "Don't just talk to the movie stars. I mean I'd love to be in the room and try to get everyone to get along, but it's about the people … They need to go talk to those people to really understand what their life is like.”

Beyond the strikes, it’s clear that TIFF also struggled with ticket sales, and plenty of free tickets for films like Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Anand Tucker’s The Critic were being handed out.

Bad publicity certainly also doesn’t help.

TIFF recently lost its top sponsor Bell, and now celebrities are calling for the festival to also drop RBC as a sponsor due to environmental concerns.

I don’t really want to think about a future where TIFF won’t be able to exist in the scale that it does currently. But it’s clear some things need to be changed structurally.

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What is the future of Blackpink?

Blackpink recently wrapped their massive world tour in Seoul and also marked their seventh anniversary together.

And now, there are several reports saying the members will not be renewing their contracts with YG Entertainment. According to industry insiders this week, member Rosé signed an agreement to renew her contract with YG Entertainment. The remaining three members including Jennie, Jisoo, and Lisa are reportedly negotiating to transfer to other agencies while participating in Blackpink activities for six months each year.

While nothing has been confirmed yet, YG Entertainment released a statement this week to say that members of Blackpink are still undergoing contract negotiations.

Meanwhile, Jennie has hinted in her cover interview with Harper’s Bazaar Korea that she is preparing to release new music.

“I’m making a song that’s by Jennie, the most Jennie and something unique that is only Jennie’s,” she told the magazine according to Korea JoongAng Daily. It will be her first official solo release since her 2018 debut single ‘Solo’.

Regarding Blackpink’s future, there are a few ways I can see this going. Each member can sign with different labels and stay as a group. They pursue solo careers. Or, some members (like Jisoo) give up performing to focus on acting, influencing and modelling instead.

Nevertheless, I want the members of Blackpink to make the art they want to create. So I am wishing them all the best.

BTS’s SUGA enlists in the military

After a whirlwind year of touring and an album release, Suga has become the latest BTS member to enlist in the military.

Ahead of his enlistment on September 22, the rapper posted a message to fans on Weverse.

“I was able to come this far thanks to you. And the time has come. I will faithfully complete my duty and come back,” he wrote.

“Be careful of the chilly autumn weather. Stay healthy and see you all in 2025.”

While 2025 is still quite some time away, Suga and his BTS members have repeatedly promised that the group will stay together. Earlier this week, it was announced that all seven members of BTS have renewed their contracts with HYBE and BIGHIT Music.

JYP unveils its new North American girl group VCHA

On Thursday, JYP’s K-pop competition show A2K introduced the final lineup that would form its new North American girl group, VCHA.

The group is comprised of members Lexi (17, from Milwaukee), Camila (18, Montreal), Savanna (17, Fort Lauderdale), Kendall (17, Fort Worth), KG (16, Los Angeles), and Kaylee (13, Philadelphia).

According to an interview the group did with Teen Vogue, the name VCHA comes from the Korean word “빛을”, which means "to shine the light."

“The textbook meaning is basically that we're supposed to inspire. We all have role models or people we want to be like, so we want to inspire and lead the way for people who also see us as role models,” said member Kaylee.

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