9-3-2005
I was in Box 3. Box 36 of 48 was drawn first. My box would be the 15th
processed. This is much better than my processing position has been in
past years. I waited for the promised emails from TIFF with a
combination of anticipation (of the news) and skepticism (that any
emails would ever be sent in the first place).
Then today, shortly after 5pm, the emails arrived. I was almost afraid
to open them for fear of what they might contain.
But, I am pleased to report, the news is good. Of the 34 films I
requested, I got 33. The only one sold out was Brokeback
Mountain on Saturday (Sept. 10th) night, which I kind of expected
given the film’s great buzz in Venice, its high-profile leads (who’ll
both be here for the screening) and the fact that it’s a
first-Saturday, nighttime screening, when everyone and their cousin is
in town and when virtually every single film showing sells out.
Still 33 out of 34 ain’t bad!
I was shocked. Heck, I still am. Only one ticket missing?
Seriously?
No, really. Seriously???
You mean…I really WILL get to see Catherine Keener in person at
Capote?! I’ll be in the same theater as Maggie for Trust the
Man?! I’ll be in the audience for the potential trainwreck that
will be the Q&A for Margaret Cho’s Bam Bam and Celeste?!
Cool!
But…whatever joy I might be feeling is tempered with a lingering
flicker of the aforementioned doubt that these emails are 100%
accurate. There’s still a chance that there was a glitch in the process
somewhere. That the ticketing system mistakenly awarded me films I
won’t, in fact, be seeing. Until I have my tickets in my hand on Monday
morning, I shall remain cautiously optimistic.
And now I have to find something to see instead of Brokeback. I
haven’t decided whether I’ll make an effort to pursue that film, or
just relent and see something less popular instead.
I’ll end this entry with a small note about the ticket lottery itself.
(Fear not, no ranting will follow.) This year, for the first time ever,
I actually attended the lottery draw. I trucked over to the box
office before the drop-off deadline to witness the Big Event in person.
I’d heard others talking about it in years passed, so I thought, “What
the heck! Maybe I’ll bring myself and my box-mates luck by being
present for the draw!”
As lame as it sounds, the whole thing was kind of fun... if suspicious.
The two TIFF reps ("box guy," who was carrying a box, and "bag guy,"
who was carrying a bag with the numbered chips) running the draw
gathered a crowd outside the box office (and it was a pretty big
crowd!), announced the total number of boxes collected as of the
deadline (48), selected a volunteer from the masses, and then proceeded
to put on their best carnival-barker voices to hold up and call out
each numbered chip (to prove that each box was being included in the
draw) before dropping it into a big box. Then the volunteer pulled out
the winning number and the whole thing was over. Most people were
happy, mainly because they’d only just squeaked in under the wire and
would benefit from being in, say, box 47.
But here’s the thing:
A few minutes before the draw, the fest rep holding the box that would
be used for the draw was carrying it around outside the box office. As
he waited for the 1:00pm deadline to arrive, he meandered aimlessly
with the box and was absentmindedly shaking it back and forth. He was
near enough to me that I could hear stuff inside the box, moving
around. At first, I thought he’d already dropped the numbered chips
inside. “Weird,” I thought. “Aren’t they supposed to put the numbers in
while we all watch?”
So I kept an eye on him, waiting to see if he’d dump out whatever was
inside.
But I don't think he did. Granted, he was out of my field of vision for
about 10 seconds while we all headed outside, so it's possible that he
dumped out the contents. But where? Onto the sidewalk?
As far as I could tell, the numbered chips were dropped, with a great
deal of pomp and circumstance, into the box with whatever else was
already in there.
Hmmmmmm.
What could have been inside? The other TIFF rep brought out the stacks
of numbered chips, so it couldn't have been those. Unless box guy had
the stacks in the box, then somehow passed them to bag guy on the way
out the door...?
Somewhere in the back of my mind, a tiny voice wondered: Is the draw
fixed somehow? Do they load in some extra numbers in advance to ensure
a certain set of numbers (for example, those toward the middle and
end?) have a higher probability of being selected?
Dunno. Again, there was brief moment or two where I couldn't see box
guy or bag guy, so maybe they did their thing and everything is on the
up-and-up. I want to believe I’m overreacting but it smelled a little
fishy. Maybe next year I’ll pipe up and ask them to prove the box is
completely empty before they drop in chip #1.
