Living in a Fantasia

A confession here: I have only completed my third day volunteering with the Montreal Fantasia Film Festival. I had promised myself to write more than the daily entry in my private journal. This was for many reasons: 1) I had never volunteered to help with a festival before, and I could think of no other way to get involved with one beyond travelling to Toronto, New York, or parts of Europe for such an event; 2) my summer was winding down and I could not bear to just plan a new course with my own calendar and outline from a new textbook (always more to learn); 3) there was not much else to distract me, besides online teaching and the distraction of my cellphone; and 4) I wanted to know what was going on behind the scenes. So…

…I attended a first meeting for potential volunteers at the DeSeve Theatre at the Concordia campus (fortunate that all of the meetings and most of the films would be shown downtown).

First, we were given numbers for the security and other departments in case of certain emergencies. Then were introduced to several of the people I would run into again and again.

I apologize for not including all of the names. I still think that I should keep all victims and villains anonymous if possible. But I am grateful for being accepted into a very diverse group.

Day One:

This was a Saturday at the main hall near the mezzanine office (a restaurant called the Hive Café would be the main stop and office for the staff and us). We were a small group that grew as the weekend kicked off. And we were given our t-shirts. Well, not really. They were old t-shirts that we would have to use because the ones that were ordered had not yet arrived (a not-so-good sign for the event). Then there was another problem: the error in the handbook. One of the names included in the guide was actually under the wrong photograph. My first job – and one that I volunteered for – was to insert a sticker with the correct information on it right over the error. I went through four separate boxes of these books inserting an endless number of corrections that first day. But that was not all I had on my plate.

After an hour and a half of correcting their mistakes, I got line duty. Now, believe it or not, Canada can actually be hot during the summer. In fact, it can be much worse in those areas where you live near a mountain surrounded by water and you have already dealt with wildfires and heatwaves. And it was pretty bad in an oversized black t-shirt on the steps of the university. The best thing about this moment was encountering two of the filmmakers involved with the festival. They had one movie in competition and it kind of humanized things for me. This was a real event with real people (you could tell that these were people involved in the types of movies that we loved and enjoyed). The heat did not seem so bad.

Day Two:

A short meeting on screeners: these are the rooms where the press, producers, directors and other people involved in the festival can sit in private screened-off rooms and watch new releases. There are five spaces that can be reserved and we were given brief instructions on how to handle the equipment and staff. Not the most sophisticated way to have the product on display, but it serves its purpose. And I wondered about the school having the art history department in the same building as engineering (rather perverse - perfect for Fantasia).

Day Three:

This was a tough one. A ten-to-five shift without pay (the pizza was not the perfect compensation I expected). Once again, I added stickers, this time including a map of the festival grounds and placing them in a goodie bag. At least I had some help: a student of the college in my old field - English literature - was a very useful partner in that monotony. We debated our favourite books, movies (for some reason, ''Twilight'' reared its ugly head), and future plans. Sometimes you can learn too much about the ones you are working with and maybe that is why we ended up working in different stations (if anyone asks about your relationships and wants advice, make sure that they really do want it).

There was also a room under a theatre that had to be cleaned, cabled up, filled with posters and connected to the power. And finally, the worst part of my day: the red carpet. Please appreciate what it takes to get that damn strip of fabric secure on the ground. We had to use a special carpet tape that was double-sided and seemed to deny that fact. You have to peel off one side to make it adhere to the floor; it seemed to adhere much more often to the white plastic it came with, and my fingers. I dread the hours that must be devoted to such decoration in Hollywood or any of those other film festivals (Cannes must be an extreme nightmare).

So, the last shift was a seven-hour run. With all that tedious work, I noticed that there was some of the regular staff around us. Some acknowledged us; most ignored us. They were all tapping away on laptops or making badges for the special visitors and guests soon to arrive. There was one day to go and this was the last moment to get a great deal done. Maybe another pair of hands doing grunt work might have helped?

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So, the first three days... I am not back on until the weekend and a few other sessions that have to be filled in as the need grows. I have also been given a few codes for free movies (another bonus) and will let you in on how weird my tastes are. I should be able to review at least five here before the festival ends...and have more to fill in with my Fantasia work.

Please wait...

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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