Visiting Toronto for the TIFF film festival

I recently had the chance to visit Toronto in Canada. A place that I've enjoyed visiting before but my impressions last time were a city of commerce, concrete and industrial history. My trip this time would be very different. An eye opening experience on so many levels.

Firstly my reason for visiting. The Toronto International Film Festival known as TIFF. journalist, bloggers, movie stars, directors and film distributors from around the world descend on the Ontario city for 2 weeks to indulge in our collective love of movies. It was my first film festival and combining my love of travel with my love of film was something I was very much looking forward too.

A packed itinerary

My itinerary was packed from the moment I arrived. A fantastic guided tour of Toronto changed my perception of this city. So much has changed since my last visit in 2007 but also so much was already there that I just didn't know about. We drove through districts with great character like Forrest Hill and Kings West street. Out to the distillery, once an industrial area of town. Now an amazing arts, crafts and cafe social hangout with well preserved buildings, perfect for a weekend stroll. The Brickworks further out of town is another area, once a derelict quarry, now a beautiful lake with walking trails and thriving wildlife.

The film festival

But let's get back to why I was really in toronto. Whenever and where ever you travel it's always worth seeing what festivals are on especially in cities where there's always something interesting happening. I've been to street festivals in Sydney, Australia, Caribbean music festival in Belgium and now a film festival in Canada. Festivals really transform a holiday in to something quite unique and often a once in a lifetime experience.

Armed with my media pass, I had the freedom to see any films on the schedule. And boy were there a lot of films to choose from. Over 10 screens in 2 venues, one of which, the TIFF Bell Lightbox was built especially for the festival and shows both independent and new releases all year round. Each screen showed movies almost back to back with everything from new Hollywood blockbusters to local films, unusual world co-productions and old classics as far back as the 1940s.

A gala premier

My first evening was spent attending he movie gala premier of Looper at the wonderfully lavish Elgin Theatre in downtown Toronto. A stunning place to watch a movie and a chance to see the director and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt give a short speech before the film start.

My first day after sight-seeing gave me a chance to browse the busy film schedule and get stuck in. First up was a Salman Rushdie adaptation called "Midnight's Children" which proved to be a long but beautifully directed story of Indian independence in 1947 and the lives of children born on the stroke of midnight on 14th August that year. It was a great example of a movie I probably wouldn't have seen were it not for this film fest.

Next on the agenda was a movie that really couldn't be ignored. 'My awkward sexual adventure' is a Canadian romantic comedy set in Toronto of all places. So I felt a duty to go check out some home-grown film talent. As expected It was a great indie movie, well acted, directed and very funny to boot. I headed straight from that theatre to the next to catch Inescapable. An action thriller set in Damascus, Syria. It had a rather predictable storyline much like the Liam Neeson film 'taken'. It was still enjoyable and well acted with a good cast. The strangest thing is watching movies in a cinema straight after breakfast. It's an unusual time of day to be in a dark theatre especially with 400 other journalists, bloggers and critics.

Meeting locals

I'm lucky to have some fellow blogger friends who live in Toronto and I couldn't miss the chance to catch up with them and also get a local's eye view of the city and visit some area tourists are less likely to visit.

Alicia Taggio (@taggio) took me to china town and Kensington, a fantastic hippy district with some very unique shops and cafes as well as artworks and even a workshop where you can make bikes from Bamboo!

I discovered the awesome teas at David's Tea and visited the Toronto art gallery which is an impressive collection in an equally impressive building.

On Sunday I met up with Arianne and Tristan from @seeusoontravel and had

great fun exploring the Korean and japanese districts with some tasty sushi and quirky book stores.

We also enjoyed a refreshing Canadian beer on a rooftop terrace with great views of the city. The CN tower ever present in any view of the skyline.

Thank you Toronto

4 nights just isn't enough for any city. Especially when a festival is in town. The city goes movie crazy for the duration. Watching the news channels awash with celebrity spotting and movie reviews. It's a great time to visit Toronto. The weather in September is fine with occasional showers to keep the City air clean.

With thanks to Toronto tourism for the hospitality. To Le Germain Maple Leaf Square for their amazing accommodation right near the giant CN Tower. Also to air Canada for the flights to Toronto direct from London Heathrow.