TIFF Humans

In the summer of 2023, my passion for storytelling and lack of financial stability landed me one of the most interesting customer service roles I’ve had; a retail sales associate at the TIFF shop. As a bookworm and a student studying creative writing, I was fascinated by film as much as anyone in that building, but I certainly didn’t know as much as my colleagues. As time went on, my coworkers and I continued our endless discourses on films, music, and art during our downtime. By the end of the year I felt I had grown more than I expected, with a newfound perspective on art.

Sometimes I felt like I was drowning in an industry that wasn’t built to recognize individuals like me; an immigrant or a queer person. Other times it felt like I had found my footing in something bigger than my imagination, and the more I opened up about these feelings to my immediate colleagues with similar backgrounds, the more I felt inclined to continue to understand them. I began this project in order to engage in similar conversations with colleagues all over the building, some which I had never met, and some with titles I didn’t even understand. The city of Toronto, North America, the World — should know who these people are and why they are here.

The first question that came to mind when I thought about approaching TIFF staff was “What does International in TIFF mean to you?” As I thought about my own response to this question, I wondered more about how the people behind the scenes of the festival viewed themselves and their love of film within the context of the work they do. I had the pleasure of connecting with Lars Aumueller, who has been ushering at TIFF for 15 years now.

Lars holding up a staff pick from the film reference library (if you know, you know).

“Film is a great machine for empathy.”

Lars, a true cinephile — filled with recommendations and opinions, is surrounded by an air of wisdom that only breeds amongst the most observant types. I learned from him the true importance of entering a theatre with an open mind, we talked about how books and movies are something that we as humans submit ourselves to.

“The first ten minutes of a movie teaches you how to watch it.”

For Lars, TIFF has been a place where great memories are born. His mother, who was in love with film in his childhood, would tag along for several screenings at the Pedro Almodovar retrospective with a new friend who has never seen anything by him. The two absolutely loved watching people “light up” during a great film. Lars received a lot of gratitude from people for introducing them to his culture in such a beautiful way; memories he continues to cherish.

When I spoke to other colleagues around the house, I discovered some new lenses through which people perceive their positions within the Lightbox.

Devlin Ralph — who works as a ticket agent when he’s not communicating with patrons at the call centre, elaborates on his position;

“Im pretty proud of a lot of the programming — I’m always so excited to sell tickets for films I got the chance to see. It feels like a privilege to share that with people here.”

Devlin at the box office.

Devlin graduated from OCAD University, with a major in graphic design. He talks about how his colleagues inspire him, from an artistic and social standpoint, practically every conversation he’s had has been insightful in some way. I too find this to be true at the shop! I’m sure we can all agree that the best part is getting patrons and customers in on the movie discourse whenever there’s an opportunity.

Out of the staff body at TIFF, pretty much everyone I spoke to is artistically inclined or has their own artistic practice outside of their Lightbox hours. Taryn Crankshaw, an actress and a writer, wears the cinema supervisor hat when at TIFF. Hearing her elaborate on all her endeavours as they relate to each other was simply a wonderful experience.

“Any film getting made feels like a miracle. My job is the opportunity to witness it at the finish line.”

Taryn recalled one of her favourite moments at work, at the advance screening of All of Us Strangers in the winter of 2023:

“Something felt especially magical that night. There was a very particular energy in that room, like sorrow had been woven through it. I remember walking home and carrying the film with me.”

Taryn, outside cinemas on floor 2.

As working with large crowds is a big part of her job, there is an ongoing discourse about accessibility and mobility. As a supervisor, Taryn highlights the importance of active listening to all patrons and movie-goers as a preliminary step to achieving full accessibility throughout the building.

Accessibility initiatives are ongoing, not just on the frontlines. Aaron Brown, the senior coordinator of submissions and operations touched on the subject of making sure there is equal representation of male, female and non-binary representation at the festival as part of the Share Her Journey Initiative, as well as others. She mentioned that her and her boss take up as many opportunities as possible to hand out waver codes that enable members of underrepresented groups to submit their films to TIFF for free.

Aaron, with a spirit bubbly and soft as the bright pastels we see in her favourite Wes Anderson films, has only good things to say about her team.

“I love my team so much. I specifically want to mention Robyn Citizen, the director of my department. She has a PHD in Cinema Studies, and wonderful curatorial taste. Very down to earth and calm person.”

“I wanna be Robyn Citizen when I grow up.”

Taryn at her desk, in the office.

Eli Holiday, the film reference librarian at TIFF had a lovely story to share when asked about their favourite part of their job:

“Being part of the public programming team, we get to do a lot of collaborations with many organizations. Once in a while we’ll get a youth group to come in for a tour of the space. One kid at the end of this tour came and asked me if we have any material on early black cinema. I was wracking my brain, and then I remembered that we have a coffee table book that was the art book on the “regeneration” exhibit–looking at black cinema from the late 1800s or so. I’ve never found a resource so comprehensive and specific. He was so excited and told me he wasn’t expecting such material to exist. My heart was so warm, and I was just so happy that I could help him.”

Eli holding their reference library staff picks.

Outside of their time at the Lightbox, Eli is up on stage at theatre and drag shows. They have been performing for many years, and working at the library tends to enable them to stay connected to their creative instincts as they are very passionate about researching queer media history and their favourite queer films.

Eli at their desk, at the Film Reference Library.

The library can be rather quiet compared to the rest of the departments, especially during the annual festival season. As a member of front of house staff, I was curious about their festival experiences. Eli elaborated on their recent appreciation for the newfound connections that happen every festival.

“I’m happy about the times when i’ve been able to find or create such wonderful queer spaces, and I can relax in ways i don’t often get to do.”

Saving the best for last, I had the amazing opportunity to extend this project to some of my closest colleagues at the TIFF Shop!

Bronwen Boals reflects on her time over the course of three festivals:

“It’s really interesting to see how far the films that are shown here can really travel.”

When asked if she has any films in mind that spoke to her, she mentioned how much she enjoyed attending the premier of Brother by Clement Virgo. Set in Toronto, the film follows two brothers, Michael and Jonah, who are raised in a tightly-knit Caribbean immigrant family. The story covers themes of loyalty, love, and the choices that define who we become.

“I like to see the mould of popular Caribbean stereotypes be broken.”

Bronwen holding up her TIFF Shop staff picks.

Bronwen talks about how her colleagues at the shop inspire her, and continue to expand her creative boundaries every day.

“Every time i talk to Evan he’s always telling me about new movies, and i’m basically taking notes”

Evan, a York University film graduate, and one of the most recent TIFF Shop additions, has plenty of movie knowledge to share with anyone who asks.

One of his favourite TIFF screenings was of Jenifer’s Body by Karyn Kusama;

“I really loved the gathering of queer people. It was such a special moment.”

Evan loves giving movie recommendations and talking film! If you ever happen into the shop in need of a watchlist update; ask for EVAN.

Evan holding a staff pick in the shop.

With too much to choose from, here’s an honourable mention of more of his amazing choices:

Evan holding staff picks at the shop.

“TIFF is one of the few festivals that doesn’t only feature American productions, I find it informs bigger discussions. I like to make sure I touch base with as many demographics as possible each festival”

One of our senior staff members, Corrine Abouem would certainly agree with Evan. Currently working through their Film Studies degree at UOFT with a minor in African Studies, they are the perfect person to engage with in film discourse. I would be lying if I said Corrine has only taught me a little of what I know about film today, as they are extremely well rounded and very articulate.

Bronwen and Corrine, hard at work.

“Film is one of the few forms of art that requires a multitude of people to create.”

Corrine’s favourite screening at TIFF was of The Settlers by Felipe Gálvez Haberle. They explain their fascination with the film from a curatorial standpoint;

“It’s such an interesting film because it requires you to have a certain stance on colonial history upon entering the theatre.”

Talking movies with Corrine is always an incredibly rewarding experience. If you’re ever looking to have an engaging discussion about cinema or history, ask for CORRINE.

Corrine holding their staff picks at the shop.

Special thank you to everyone who took part in bringing this project to fruition, and to all my wonderful colleagues at TIFF that make my everyday so much more enjoyable. Keep being you, keep creating, keep talking, never stop.