Our Film Fellows Experience TIFF 2013

We're always trying to give our Tribeca Film Fellows® experiences that expand their understanding of what the film world is while also introducing them to amazing storytelling. For three of our Fellows—Stefanos Tai, Samantha Gavina and Kati Perez—that's just what they got when they attended the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.

Here, they report back on their trip to our neighbors in the North.

We'd like to thank Toronto youth-based film/media programs the CityLife Film Project and The Remix Project for being our gracious hosts, and a special thank you to Tara Woodbury and Randall Thorne.  

My experience attending TIFF was memorable. On the day we arrived, I was stunned how similar Toronto is to New York, yet how much cleaner it is. After figuring out the streetcar system, I eventually made my way to my host's (Anthony Swan from CityLife Film Project, our partner organization) apartment, located in a neighborhood called "The Beaches," which is the equivalent to NYC's Brooklyn. It was good to see both the highly urbanized and more suburban regions of the city. Anthony and I connected both professionally as young filmmakers and personally, taking some time to endure a 25km bike ride through the more heavily vegetated side roads. Seeing as my upcoming short film centers around humans and my own detachment from the natural world, this provided my mind with some well deserved sensory relaxation.

After settling in, we attended a barbeque with the Canadian Film Centre, where we saw how similar the Canadian filmmaking industry is to their American counterparts, yet how the Canadian film industry seems more financially supportive of the blooming indie youth. Afterwards, we went to the world premiere screening of Enemy, directed by Denis Villeneuve, and got a real taste of how big TIFF is, and what premieres at large prestigious festivals like TIFF can mean for a filmmaker.

All in all, this experience was great to have before going into production for my short film, and it provided me with a new perspective on the film festival world, which I'm sure will prove useful as I begin my career, especially when compounded with the amazing experience I had at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

—Stefanos Tai

One of favorite events during our stay was a screening and workshop of the film Alias, with the director Michelle Latimer and editor Kye Meechan. The film followed the struggles of independent hip hop/rap artists in Toronto. The film was beautifully shot, and it was one of the best films we saw while there. The Q&A with the director and editor afterwards was very insightful. We were able to more fully understand the major differences in preparing to work on a documentary rather than narrative. Afterwards we went to see Half Of A Yellow Sun, directed by Biyi Bandele, a drama depicting the Nigerian Civil War that brutalized the country between 1967 and 1970. I liked the film, but I felt that I didn't have enough background on the war to be able to fully follow the film. I will definitely begin more research on the topic now.

Overall, the experience was fantastic. We saw several films, and although some of them weren't my favorites, we learned so much about how film festivals work.

—Samantha Gavina

My experience in The Toronto International Film Festival can be described in two words: inspiring and exciting!

Upon arrival, Anthony Swan, one of our young hosts from our partner organization, CityLife Film Project, cooked for us and gave us a tour of the city. Anthony led us to a park a little away from his home, where we played frisbee before visiting a small pond and a beach. He also taught us the use of the public transportation system which turned out to be extremely useful in the upcoming days. The street cars reminded me a lot of the city buses in New York; from how packed they get to how you can really observe all the diversity that the city has to offer.

I spent one evening with Sharries, my host and another CityLife Film Project student, which was great, amazing and just powerful! We both ended at R.I.S.E., which stands for Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere. It was a poetry event where anyone could sign up and either rap, sing, or do spoken word. I am a big fan of spoken word so I was all for this event and when I got there as an introduction everyone had to say their name, where they’re from, if this is your first time there, and a testimony, which was a big or small obstacle that you were able to overcome. I could tell from this small activity that I was going to enjoy myself. Some shared their testimonies and I was proud of them for overcoming so much. I had a testimony but I shared something positive which was that I was the first one in my family to attend college and that it was paid for. From there, the performances started and it was beautiful, songs about love and hurt and raps about the corruption of justice and people speaking about everything from life to death, as well as some first time performers, that just blew everyone away. There was a feature spoken word artist Ian Keteku, who was absolutely amazing. I filmed his first poem but I had really wished I had filmed his last one because it was just wonderful and spoke about how justice really is an illusion and how there really only is just you and me to fight the world. It ended with this soulful performance by a man that I can only physically describe as tall, with dreads and a beautiful looking guitar. He belted out the most soulful and heartbreaking song that I wondered if he was already famous because the lyrics were just so beautiful. It was an evening of reflection, where I heard the truth about Toronto from all these young adults/adults and it was just mind-blowing.

Our last night in Toronto we got a tour of The Remix Project. They help young people start careers in the arts from film, music to graphic design. Afterwards, we went to the Rawluck party, an event created by The Remix Project founder Gavin Sheppard, where everyone that was part of the Remix Project alumni or current student was present. I met singers, rappers, and a photographer/filmmaker who was making plans to shoot a film when he comes to New York City.

This trip was really inspiring because not only did I get to experience TIFF but I met the most talented, amazing, and soulful people. I am going to keep in contact because I can’t let any of these people go just because there’s a border dividing us.

—Kati Perez