TIFF20: Less action for autograph hounds, selfie-seekers at this year's scaled down festival

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So much for star hunting at TIFF this year.

With a vastly reduced slate of films being screened at three TIFF Bell Lightbox cinemas and three drive-in movie theatres, no major stars in physical attendance, no red carpets or camera calls, no Festival Street along King and no big gatherings due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, it will be an autograph and selfie seeker’s desert this year.

“It’ll be nice to maybe have a break from (the pace) this year — that’s the one plus side of it — it’s exhausting,” said Toronto veteran selfie-taker and entertainment blogger Will Wong, who usually averages about 100 selfies during TIFF’s ten-day run.

“It is pretty chaotic those first four to five days of the festival.”

The majority of actors will be represented digitally or through prerecorded appearances.

“You held out hope that you’d finally get the chance to see these people but it’s just not going to happen now and we’ve come to accept it,” said Wong, a 14-year TIFF veteran who counts Angelina Jolie, Emma Stone and Anne Hathaway among his favourite selfies.

With 61 features and 36 shorts, TIFF is about a fifth of its usual size, and is also moving for the first time to public digital screenings.

TIFF autograph veteran Branislav Soska, who is currently back home with his wife Barbora and their daughter in Poprad, Slovakia, would normally be in Toronto to chase the stars for two weeks while she works as an accredited TIFF journalist.

He’s spent the last 13 years doing so, but not this year.

“If the situation was better, like absolutely — I would have been doing my 14th year — I wouldn’t miss it,” said Soska, who counts Robert Redford and Benecio Del Toro among his favourite autograph gets.

And even if he had come back to Toronto, Soska figures it would have been limited access and will continue to be as long as COVID-19 is around without a vaccine.

“OK, so you’re going for an autograph or for a selfie but at the same time, the actors would be wearing a mask or some protection,” said Soska.

“So, if you get a photo with them, how would it be with the mask? And at the same time, are they going to sign for the crowd, because of the restrictions? Are they going to allow them or are they going to take the risk?”

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Among the hotels that normally draw autograph hounds and selfie-seekers for a glimpse of the stars during TIFF are the Ritz-Carlton, the Shangri-La Hotel, the St. Regis, Le Germain, and Bisha Hotel.

They too have prepared for a reduced TIFF.

“There will be less people on the streets,” admits Mimi AuYeung, the Ritz-Carlton Toronto’s public relations and marketing manager.

“The city will be much quieter. It’s definitely very different for everyone, for our friends over at TIFF and everyone in the city. It’s usually the biggest event of the year. But we still want to try and make everyone have that fun TIFF feeling.”

jstevenson@postmedia.com