Of the films I watched, I would have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by “Perrier’s Bounty” and “The Last Days of Emma Blank“. In fact, I like the latter film so much that I felt compelled to get my ticket stub autographed by actress Annet Malherbe, who was present for a Q&A, alongside the film’s producer. The biggest surprise for me, however, was a sweet little film from Mexico, “Alamar” (To the Sea), about a little boy and his father sharing a few days together, fishing and snorkelling, before the boy is to fly off to Italy with his mother. Listed as a drama, it was shot more like a documentary, but without narration or intrusiveness. Away from city life, it’s clear that their relationship is so honest and simple. It’s a beautifully shot film that I recommend to anyone that could use a reminder as to why we should make time to get away sometimes.

Having said that, returning to my retail job tomorrow morning won’t be the same again after these last two weeks.

Day 1: Worked a big 10.5hrs shift at the fest. Spending all that time doing a not-so-interesting job this year made me miss the bustling days back when I was a Volunteer Captain. I really do miss the headset. I feel out of the loop. Didn’t see much in the way of celebs, other than local repeats like Jian Ghomeshi and George Stroumboulopoulos. Wasn’t able to watch any movies, but slept like a baby when I got home.

Day 2: Got a ticket to catch a 9:15am screening of “Like You Know It All”, a Korean flick, before working a much shorter festival shift. The movie was alright, but it’s clear that I should’ve gotten a coffee beforehand. Apparently, staying alert for two hours in a dark room, barely an hour after waking up, is a bit of a chore for me. I didn’t fall asleep, but damn, I got pretty close. My actual shift went by pretty quickly. Just five “Press & Industry” movies to worry about. As for celebs, not a single one.

So here we are, about a half-hour after getting home from my shift at Day 3. I spent the morning watching an Irish movie, “Perrier’s Bounty“, which I had to “rush”. It wasn’t a packed house by any means, so getting a seat was easy. The movie was great! For lack of a better description, it’s like an Irish version of a Guy Ritchie caper. Actors Jim Broadbent and Cillian Murphy were perfectly cast as the estranged father/son pair. On my way to meet my boyfriend for some all-day breakfast afterward, I passed actor Alexander Siddig on the sidewalk outside one of the hotels near the theatre. He’s in town promoting his movie “Cairo Time“. But of course, when I saw him, my first thought was “Hey, that was Dr. Julian Bashir!” (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). He’s much shorter than I expected, maybe just a couple inches taller than me.

After I scarfed down some delicious Eggs Benedict, off I went to my third festival shift. It started off pretty slowly, but later in the afternoon/evening there were a couple of Public screenings that called for some red carpet action. Being stationed where we are at the Varsity, we are right next to the makeshift “green room” and paparazzi area where any of the movie talent wait it out before making an appearance and Q&A before a public screening. First, to promote their flick “Defendor“, Woody Harrelson, Elias Koteas and Kat Dennings hung out with the press for a bit, about 10 feet to our left. A couple hours later, in support of his screening of “Solitary Man“, Michael Douglas zipped through 20 mins after the scheduled showtime, so he promised the press that he would be back to answer questions and have photos taken. He’s another actor that’s a lot shorter in person. Although he isn’t in the movie, Matt Damon, hand-in-hand with his wife, also came to the screening. He was pretty much just as I expected.

I’ll admit that I do get starstruck by stars, major or minor, so it does irk me a bit that my little cell phone doesn’t have a camera on it. Grr.

I still have a couple more movies to catch this week and even more to try and “rush”, not to mention a couple more volunteer shifts. By the end of it all, I’m going to have to soak my sore feet and look into getting my worn-down sneakers replaced.

Wait a sec… what happened during my second year? Hmmm….

Anyway, once I put on the headset and made sure the volunteers in my shift were all signed in, me and my much-more-seasoned co-captain, Calista, started the evening shift. Can I just say that I felt so out of practice? There’s a certain rhythm to how to organize and delegate the volunteers efficiently and I’m pretty sure I forgot all the tricks. Thankfully, there weren’t that many screenings to deal with. Not to mention the awesome Calista. *phew*

Today’s celeb sighting: Robert Joy (probably most recognized as “Dr. Sid Hammerback”, the coroner from CSI:NY)

As a captain, I don’t see as many celebs as I did during my first year as a volunteer, but I thought it might be interesting to keep a tally of who I run into this year. :) For the curious, some of the celebs I’ve seen in the past include: film critic Roger Ebert, documentary film maker Michael Moore, actor Scott Speedman, director Spike Lee, actress/comedienne Margaret Cho, actor Alan Cumming, entertainment reporter Jerry Penacoli, actress/writer/Much Music alum Sook-Yin Lee, TV host/Much Music alum George Stroumboulopoulos.