The daunting, delicious Toronto International Film Festival – aka movie g-orgy – is back, this time with 296 titles from 45 countries, 13 cinemas, over 800 sales and industry delegates (and counting), a promise from programmer Cameron Bailey that Canadian film and sex have enfin been successfully united, and last, but not least, a new boss. The familiar face of Piers Handling, formerly artistic director of the fest, will now grace the page with the head honcho title at the top. Handling assured Playback back in March when Helga Stephenson stepped down, that he was not interested in fixing somethin’ that weren’t broke. He has kept his promise.

The basic layout

The Festival offices return to the Sutton Place Grande Hotel Le Meridien.

The hub of activity is on the second floor, where people mill in and out of the industry, press, Trade Forum symposium and guest offices.

The third floor is where you will find such distributors as Alliance Communications, Fine Line and Miramax, along with the Canadian Film Centre, and VK and Associates publicity offices (handling Cineplex and Castle Rock pix).

The first floor is home to press conference rooms, a lobby cafe and the festival hospitality suite for industry/press/guest pass-holders. Sans Souci, the chic and expensive dining room located on the main floor, is prime territory for some established industry types (it’s where festival cofounder and cpi wiz, Dusty Cohl, holds court each morning).

Movie tickets

Sutton Place

Industry Box Office

Fax: (416) 969-7935

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Festival has bought its own bar-code ticketing system, so while we may be riding the bumps that are part of any trial year, the overall idea is to make life easier for ticket-buyers.

Sales and Industry Office

Sutton Place

Amsterdam Suite, 2nd floor

(416) 969-7340

Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Home to buyers, distributors and producers, the Festival Sales and Industry Office – the little unofficial market that grew – will be conducting business as usual this year, with a few changes.

s&i office fixture Shane Kinnear will not be running the shop with veteran sales office director Christine Yankou, following his move over to Telefilm Canada from the Ontario Film Development Corporation (and sales office sponsor) last fall.

This year, alongside Yankou, ofdc sales and distribution director Jim Murphy and sales and distribution co-ordinator Kelley Alexander will be handling the business of the business.

If you are looking for a distributor, broadcaster, international partner, or any other film/tv financially-oriented morph, the sales office has a message center and is often packed with people with real clout.

Press Office

Sutton Place

London/Edinburgh Suite

(416) 969-7341

Hours: 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

This year, thanks to that four-letter word, c-u-t-s, there’s no Perspective Canada suite. Instead, it’s back to the press office for Canadian filmmakers and distributors. If you want to push your film, get thee to the press office and stay put for as long as you can stand it.

Press office head is Michele Maheux, her right arm is Susan Norget, and the two oversee a collection of 21 press officers. If you’re looking to find out more about a film that already has a distributor onside, it’s faster to go straight to the distrib’s office (see above). If your aim is to either gather or distribute film-related materials, the keepers of all relevant Perspective Canada papers for the press are Helen duToit and Tracey Hoyt.

Each morning, on paper-laiden press office tables, there are updated industry and press screening schedules and updated press conference timetables. Don’t rely on old schedules, they are about as unpredictable as a box office flop.

Print Traffic

Sutton Place

Room 315

Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If you can’t get to the theater for a screening, try either the distributor or, alternatively, print traffic. Print traffic has a catalogue of many of the Festival’s titles, and you can borrow tapes for screening purposes. There are video-viewing rooms – equipped with pal, secam and ntsc machines – in the hotel, and print-traffickers Erin MacDonald and Kelley Lamore can book them for you.

Parties

What better way to counteract a few, sedentary hours in the dark than to put on your high-heeled sneakers and get down? Parties are perhaps too popular at the Festival, say some fest insiders, and certain Playback editorial staff have been thus forewarned. Alas, party details will not be disclosed, with one exception (because it’s the best fete with free drinks of the highest order and the finest food trough):

Telefilm Canada, 368 fsbv fjfmfia eha 9we834mnxxronto. Sorry. Try a movie.

If your craving for the big schmooze is simply insatiable, try the appropriate party host – whether it’s a public agency, a private studio or your neighbor. If you want to wing it, crash, or check out these restaurants and bars – they are where a fair bit of the non-screening action takes place:

In the Bay and Bloor area:

– Bistro 990 at 990 Bay Street, across from the Sutton, is home-away-from-home for Festival-goers.

– Bellair Cafe, the old standard at 100 Cumberland Street, is still a popular spot, as is Bemelman’s Bar at 83 Bloor Street West.

– Prego Della Piazza, at 150 Bloor Street West, continues to be the favorite hangout of Alliance Communications types.

– The Four Seasons, try any of the ground floor bars at this 21 Avenue Road hostelry.

– The Park Plaza rooftop bar, 4 Avenue Road, is another standby.

In the Church and Wellesley area:

– Woody’s, at 467 Church Street, is touted as the hottest gay bar in town, and Byzantium (499 Church Street) is said to be a very groovy restaurant/bar featuring martinis of many flavors.

In the Queen/King West district:

The Queen/King Street (West) corridor is considered by many to be a hipper strip than Bay/Bloor. Here are a few spots to choose from:

– The Bamboo, 312 Queen Street West, will undoubtedly see some Festival action again this year, but don’t look for the Festival’s Saturday night party here.

– The Squeeze Club, an older Queen Street eatery (at #817 Q West), offers a bar, coffee and pool tables. The cues have been handled by some pretty expensive hands at past Festivals.

– On the pool trail, the Rivoli’s upstairs pool hall at 334 Queen Street West, is another popular spot.

Symposium Trade Forum: At Warp Speed

Sutton Place

Venice Suite, 2nd floor

(416) 967-7775

This year, the industry Trade Forum takes place Sept. 9-11 in various locales in the Sutton Place (try the Queen Victoria Ballroom, Stop 33 Royal and the Royal Sutton Ballroom).

For details see story on page 15.

The ‘Other Symposium’ – Digitalia

Sutton Place

Royal Sutton B, main floor

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2-4 p.m.

This free forum traditionally takes on a trend or issue for the sake of critical debate, and this year the target is digital technologies. The idea is to examine the repercussions – both good and evil – of the digital world and how they apply to the Canadian film industry.

Panelists include filmmakers Ron Mann, Judith Doyle and Loretta Todd.

In years past (especially for the smutty session that revolved around sex in Canadian cinema), the house has been jam-packed, so get a seat early.