Ep. 17: The Blind Film Festival Experience - Pt. 1

Alex had the amazing opportunity to attend the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and he is back to discuss his experience on this episode. In part one, Alex shares his thoughts on the movies he saw at TIFF and which ones he anticipates being part of the awards season conversations.

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Transcript

Lee Pugsley  
Happy October, everyone! Welcome back to Episode 17 of The Dark Room, where two blind cinephiles illuminate decided. I'm Lee Pugsley.

Alex Howard  
I'm Alex Howard.

Lee Pugsley  
And we are your hosts, two legally blind guys doing this podcast for film lovers of all abilities. So as we are now officially into the fall season, we start a really exciting time of year because we are headed towards award season. As part of that, there are many film festivals that launch possible Oscar contenders. Some of those film festivals include the New York Film Festival, Venice, Telluride, and recently, Alex had the incredible opportunity to be a part of TIFF. He was able to attend in person this year, which is awesome. So we wanted to just take a moment to recount his experiences. And this will be done in two parts. The first part of the conversation will be about the movies Alex saw at the film festival. And the second part will be about accessibility at film festivals and where there's room for growth. So Alex, welcome back.

Alex Howard  
Yeah, thanks. I'm excited to talk about my first big in-person film festival.

Lee Pugsley  
So how did you get this opportunity? I mean, it's such an amazing opportunity. And I know that you attended other film festivals online during the pandemic, but this was your first in-person film festival. Correct?

Alex Howard  
I went to Kansas International Film Festival a few years back with my mother's documentary, The Weight of Honor. But other than that, I've been to L.A. a couple times, Palm Springs a couple of times. But this was my first huge awards, big deal festival in person. I did Toronto virtually in 2021, and Sundance virtually in 2022. So the way I got this opportunity was, thank you so much to TIFF and so much to Respectability. But Toronto went to Respectability, which is an organization that promotes disability inclusion in the world, but specifically, they have a branch that promotes disability inclusion in the entertainment industry. So they went to Respectability, and said, "We want to have some of your members come to the film festival." So they opened it up, they posted on Facebook and said, "Hey, if you're interested in going please comments." And I commented thinking, "Oh, it's gonna be virtual," you know? And then I was like, "Oh, no, it's probably gonna be in person. And I was thinking like, "I'll just buy a plane ticket, like no big deal if I get it." And so they were saying the Canadian members of Respectability got first dibs, because they're closer. And then they texted me and said, "Hey, are you serious about wanting to go? Because they're gonna give us a stipend. And we want to send you to go if you're available." I was like, "Yes, I would love to go." And so yeah, they flew me out from L.A., I was pretty much there to rep Respectability and the low vision / blind perspective. I mean, there were other blind / low vision people there. So it was a, I'm so thankful for the opportunity. It was so much fun.

Lee Pugsley  
That is incredible. And if I'm being honest, I'm happily jealous for you. Because I would have loved to go. Touching on your experiences, though, I definitely want to get into what the actual festival experience was like for you in terms of accessibility and all of that. But first of all, I wanted to check in with you about the movies you saw. I know that some movies might be under embargo right now. So you can't fully talk about all of them, perhaps, but whatever movies you are you able to talk about, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on them, and on what movies that were introduced you feel like could be possible awards contenders in any category.

Alex Howard  
So I'll just, yeah, I'll go through the movies that I saw there. It was, what was really great about Toronto was, there were about twelve projects there that provided audio description. And I really want to thank all the people who worked on the audio description tracks for these movies. I know having the tracks at the festivals means you have to get the tracks done earlier. So it really means a lot that they had the deadline before when they would normally have to get these done. Because I know, like, Quiz Lady and All the Light We Cannot See, those don't come out until November. So to have these tracks done two months before means a lot. And I think it goes a long way for making the festival accessible. And also obviously, thanks to the people at TIFF and all the people at the theaters for going above and beyond to make these festivals accessible. So hopefully that continues. And a special thanks to Liz Guttman for writing the audio description track for All the Light We Cannot See and Pain Hustlers. I had texted her before the festival and then when I heard her name in the, credited I was like, "Oh, that's so awesome." So shout out to her and I know she was on our podcast a few weeks back, so that was really cool. So I prioritized those, and there were bigger movies that premiered they're like Dumb Money, Next Goal Wins, one I really wanted to see, Woman of the Hour, that didn't have audio description, but I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna see those later, when they, you know, inevitably come out with description in the movie theater." So I wasn't prioritizing those. So the first day I went to three movies, I went to Shayda, which is from Sony, Flora and Son from Apple, and The Convert, which is a New Zealand production company. So Shayda was like, it was good. It wasn't amazing. It was kind of a rough subject matter, you know, it was the first movie I saw there and the audio description worked and I was like, "Okay, we're good." I was kind of in disbelief that like, "Is the AD really gonna work?" You never know, especially with AMC sometimes, kind of hit or miss whether it'll work. So it was very encouraging that right off the bat, they got it to work. It is good, but I don't think it'll be an awards contender. So then I went to Flora and Son. I think this one is one of my favorites that I saw at the festival still. Either number one or two for me, it is very, very good. I don't know if it'll be up for Oscars, maybe Song because it's from the director of Sing Street and Once, and stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bono's daughter is actually the other star in it. And she is surprisingly good. Like, not only can she sing, but she's a really good actress. And it's very charming. It's very funny. I'm not a huge romantic movie person, but there's a romantic element to it that is very, very prevalent. And you get like all the feels of [inaudible] relationships, when you're in the very beginning of a relationship, you have those feels. And this movie definitely made me feel those feelings. So it's basically about, Bono's daughter plays a woman who has a son, and she is taking guitar lessons virtually. She is living in the UK, and Justin Gordon Levitt is living in LA. And they're doing guitar lessons virtually, and they start having feelings for one another. And it's just, it's an amazing movie. I'm not, I mean, I like music. I'm not a huge music person. But very highly recommended. It comes on Apple TV Plus on September 29.

Lee Pugsley  
I'm really excited for this movie. I've seen the trailers for it. And you know, heard a lot of buzz about it. 

Alex Howard  
Yeah. The third movie I went to that day was The Convert. And this was the only time where I went to a movie and the AD didn't work at all. So I like, I bought my popcorn, I was feeling confident, like, "Oh, man, you know, they are two for two right now with audio description. This one's going to work." And I went in and it didn't. The theater told me that the movie isn't compatible. So I was like, "Okay." So I was sitting in there, because I got my popcorn, I'll just watch it. And of course, you know, I didn't get a lot of it, because there's a lot of subtitles and things. So then the next day, I went to some panels and things and I had dinner with someone and they were like, "Oh, I'm going to see The Convert at this other theater. And I was like, "You know what, I'll just, I'll go, and I'll see if the audio description works there." And sure enough, it did. And I was like, "Oh, it's a theater problem not a media problem." So I watched it there with the audio description and it helped a lot. I think, The Convert is the new movie star and Guy Pearce and Te Kohe Tuhaka is amazing in this movie. She is the indigenous lead of this movie. And I think her performance might get some awards consideration. I don't know about Oscar, because the movie itself, I don't think is strong enough to get Oscars. Like the performances are great. The visuals are great, all the technical side is amazing. The story didn't hold the emotional weight that I think they were hoping for. So I think that's where the movie kind of lacks, but her performance is awesome. I think she was also in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. She's a New Zealand actress. And so, I mean, I'm really hoping that at the least she might get like a Spirit Award nomination or something. But other than that, I don't think this movie is going many places. It isn't interesting. I didn't feel a lot during it, which I think is very important. And it was cool. This was the first world premiere I went to. So the first screening the day before was press and industry, and then they do the world premiere. So the director was there, Guy Pearce was there. And the two actress leads were both there also. And I think the reason they were allowed to be there was because it was a New Zealand production. They must have made a deal with SAG or it didn't fall under the SAG strike rules.

That's really cool that you got to see a world premiere. Was the energy like pretty high in the room? 

Yeah, I think it's funny. During the press industry screening, I saw a lot of people getting up and leaving. And I don't know, like, even if I didn't like a movie, and maybe they were just going to the bathroom. But I felt like the theater was a lot more empty when it ended than when it started. But I feel like it's kind of rude at a festival, especially like, you know the directors in town, the director might be in the theater. I would never want to get up and walk out of a movie during a festival. But at the world premiere, the energy was a lot more high. I think people were applauding, they wanted to see Guy Pearce, they wanted to see these high profile people. So yeah, they were applauding and we stayed for the Q&A and everything. Actually, every movie I went to after this was the world premiere of that movie. I went to like, I think seven world premieres there. It was great.

Lee Pugsley  
Very cool. Very cool. And so that was day one, I believe you said then yeah, what was next?

Alex Howard  
That was day one and two. So day three, I went to two movies. It's hard because I was trying to find movies that not only worked in the time slots I had, but there were audio described movies and then there were other ones. So I was trying to find other movies I'd be interested in, that I would think by the premise I wouldn't necessarily need audio description. So there was a movie I went to called Mother, Couch with Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn. And the premise was that Ellen Burstyn plays a mother, and she goes into a furniture store and sits on the couch and refuses to leave. And so even McGregor and his two other siblings go there, and basically try and see if there's something wrong with her and convince her to leave the store. And I was thinking, "Oh, this will be a dialogue heavy movie." And while it was, it got pretty crazy in the last third of it, and it's, the movie feels like a dream. Like a dream sequence things are happening that don't really make sense in real life. And so it was definitely hard to watch without audio description. It was a pretty fun and quirky movie. It was, it was good. I just, I'd like to see it again with audio description. So that was the world premiere of that one. So the director, Niclas Larsson, this was his first movie. So he was there. And it was it was funny, he did Q&A. You could tell he was kind of nervous, because in front of a TIFF audience, like this three story theater. But it was great to see how happy he was to be there. And then the only other movie I saw on day three was called Quiz Lady, which is a Searchlight Disney Plus movie. And it was Awkwafina and Sandra Oh. And Jessica Yu directed Quiz Lady. This movie had audio description. It's funny. I think only the studio movies had it. This was a really cute and fun movie. I was kind of surprised, because you know a lot of straight to Disney Plus movies are kind of like, they feel like TV movies. So Quiz Lady was a lot of fun. It's about Awkwafina, she watches this game show her whole life. And then people tell her she should go on it because she knows all the answers to everything. And so it has Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Will Ferrell plays the game show host. It's a really, really charming movie. And I think especially for anyone who has a sister, it's very much a movie about a sister relationship. So it's it's very, very charming. It's a lot of fun. Definitely recommend it when it comes on Disney plus, I think it'll be on in November.

Lee Pugsley  
Nice. I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for Disney Plus movies in general. And even if they feel like they're made for TV, I'm totally on board with that. I can do campy. I can do cheesy. But this one sound right up my alley actually.

Alex Howard  
Yeah. So then on day four, I saw a movie called Daddio. Which this is another one that I was, "I'll be able to watch this without audio description because it's just a Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn talking in a car. That's the whole movie." And then I went in and she was texting a lot, in the car. And I have no idea, still, what she was texting, I figured some out from context clues in the movie. I definitely want to watch this one again. I did like it a lot. They cover a lot of heavy subjects with their conversation in the car. It's a very, very good script. I would love to see this movie be nominated for Best Screenplay at the Spirit Awards or something like that. But I always love these movies where it's very small and contained. You could almost be like a stage play. So it's very cool. Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson were both there also. So this one was, I wouldn't say it's fun. It's definitely heavy. But it's a very good movie. And I mean, obviously Sean Penn is a good actor. I think Dakota Johnson, she kind of gets a bad rap because she was on 50 Shades. But she's also very good in this movie.

Lee Pugsley  
Yeah, I think that the movies that I've seen Dakota Johnson in the last few years have really given her a chance to showcase her acting ability. And I do think that there's more to her than meets the eye or more to her than people give credit for. So I'm happy to hear that this was another one of those examples. Do you think that Sean Penn or Dakota Johnson could be considered for any acting nominations? Or do you feel like this might be too small of a film to really get them out there?

Alex Howard  
I do think it's pretty small. I don't think the performances merit Oscar nominations, maybe Spirit Award nominations. But yeah, I don't, I don't think, I think there are some other heavy hitters in Oscars this year that will take the attention away from it. Also, that day, I saw the first two episodes of All the Light We Cannot See, which is a new series on Netflix about a blind girl in the Holocaust. And it's based off a Pulitzer winning book, and it's directed by Sean Levy, who did Free Guy. I thought it was good. Like it was great to see blind representation on film. The both actresses are blind. There's the younger one and then the older one and they play the same character. And it's definitely powerful being Jewish, being blind. You know, I brought my cane in with me. I was waiting to ask a question. I wanted to ask him how he made the set accessible, and what accommodations he did on set, but they didn't end up taking questions. But the series was pretty good. I felt like it could have been better. But it ended on a cliffhanger. So they showed us the first two out of four episodes. So I'm definitely interested to see where the story is going. But I do feel it's not the best series they've ever done. I guess I wasn't hoping for a little bit better. But it's not bad by any means. And so that one had audio description as well. And it was interesting because this guy came up to me after. And he was like, "Hey, I saw your cane." I looked down, and he had a cane too. And he was on the crew of the show. So that was pretty cool. 

Lee Pugsley  
That's awesome that they are including blind and low vision people on crews for projects like that, that makes me really, really happy. Also, going back to the Q&A part of this series, did either of the blind actresses make an appearance? And if so, curious to know if they had anything to say about their experience with navigating the set or being a part of the production?

Alex Howard  
They were not there, I think since the Netflix project is a struck company. So none of the actors in any of the studio movies were there. Shawn Levy and the writer of the book were there. It was cool to hear from them.

Lee Pugsley  
Did they comment on working with blind actresses at all?

Alex Howard  
They did, actually, Shawn Levy was saying that he was picturing things going a certain way when he was directing them. But he learned as much from them as they did from him, because the two blind actresses had never acted before. And so they were teaching him a lot about the blind experience. Basically, this girl in the show, she's living in this apartment by herself and doing radio broadcasts. And so in the direction, Shawn Levy gave the example like, "Oh, she feels around for the chair. And the girl told him well, no, I'm the only one living here. So I know where the chair is. And so I don't need to feel around for it." So they were educating him on like blind living, pretty much, how we go through life. And he was incorporating that into the on-set direction.

Lee Pugsley  
Great. That's so important and so valuable on both sides of the coin, both for the director and the actors. And that's cool that he shared that example.

Alex Howard  
Yeah. And so I think that was the only one that had blind representation. I think the movie that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, I think it's called Anatomy of a Fall. 

Lee Pugsley  
Correct. It is. 

Alex Howard  
So that has a blank character in it. But that unfortunately did not have description, so I was not able to see that movie. And then the last movie I saw that day, I went to my first Midnight Madness screening at TIFF, which is called Helluva Summer. So hello, summer is directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, they are extremely young, they're probably, they're a lot younger than we are, I think. So I went to the Midnight Madness screening. And I was like, as a lover of horror movies, Midnight Madness at TIFF is legendary. They have the showcase where they start the movies at midnight. Everyone's there with like big energy, they have beach balls, they have, a lot of them drink a lot before the movie. So it's kind of like a, you know, kind of a big part of TIFF. It's almost like The Room or Rocky Horror Picture Show energy. And so I went to the rush line and someone gave me their ticket. So I got in, I was like third row, I could see Finn Wolfhard so clearly, it was so funny. So he was there. And he did Q&A with the whole cast was there too, since it was an independent project, not under AMPTP. They were all allowed to be there. It was fun. It was like a campy.... It was a dumb, fun movie. I don't know watching on my couch, it probably wouldn't have been as fun watching by myself. But in that energy, in that group of people, where everyone's you know, cheering or whatever it may be, it was a lot of fun to be there. And I'm so glad that I was able to have that experience. But also, I would love it if we can get to the point where even those small schlocky movies have audio description, so that, you know, low vision and blind people can get the full experience at those movies. It's such like a communal thing, these midnight screenings. And I think it'd be so great if they were fully inclusive with blind and low vision people.

Lee Pugsley  
I agree with that. Hopefully we'll get to that point. I mean, in general, I know that festivals have made strides towards inclusion and accessibility and making everything available for people with all types of abilities, but there's still a ways to go.

Alex Howard  
Yeah, definitely. And I know we'll get into that a lot in the next little segment on this show. And then the last day I was there, I saw The Holdovers which is Alexander Payne's new movie, which had description. That's from Focus Features. 

Lee Pugsley  
Hopefully it was better than downsizing. 

Alex Howard  
Downsizing was very disappointing. I went into that with such I hope. It was so long, and it was like "Oh, my gosh, what happened here?"

Lee Pugsley  
I was disappointed with that too. So please tell me that he redeems himself with this movie.

Alex Howard  
The holdovers stars Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and they play three people basically stuck at a school over Christmas break. Obviously, Paul Giamatti is the hard-ass teacher and the student doesn't like him, and so it's about them forming a bond over the break. And it's very 70s. Like even the title cards of the studios is very 70s. The whole feel of the movie is kind of a throwback, but it's definitely Alexander Payne return to form. The screenplay is great. I would be shocked if this doesn't get, I mean, at least a Spirit Award nomination for screenplay. I think it could get Oscar nomination for screenplay as well. I'm not sure about the performances, the performances are good, but they're also very subtle. And I know sometimes subtle performances, while they might be harder, they're not as acknowledged by the Academy sometimes. But the movie is very, very good and very solid. It's one of the better ones I saw TIFF. It takes place during Christmas. So I imagine it's coming out at Christmas time.

Lee Pugsley  
Yeah, I think it's a November or December release. But I've been looking forward to this one ever since I saw the trailer.

Alex Howard  
Yeah. So Alexander Payne was there for Q&A also, so that was really cool. And it was in this giant theater. It's called the Princess of Wales Theatre. And for that one, too, I was like in the second or third row. So that was really cool. And then the last movie I saw at TIFF was Pain Hustlers with Emily Blunt and Chris Evans. That's a Netflix movie, and that one also had audio description. This one's good. Pain Hustlers is about the start of the opioid epidemic, and how basically, these two people sort of started the ball rolling on all of that. And it was unintentional, but it's basically you know, I don't want to say it's a biopic, but it's pretty much Blackberry, like, all these other movies we have this year like Air, it's basically telling the story of a -- it's not a product, but you know, of the opioid epidemic. And it's interesting, it's an interesting story, good performances, but it doesn't really stand out from the pack, like BlackBerry did or something like that, where I think it will come back around at award season. So I do recommend it. But if you're trying to only watch the Oscar movies, I mean, it's not going to be one of those.

Lee Pugsley  
Good cast for sure, though. 

Alex Howard  
Oh, yeah. It's honestly had some funny moments, even though it's a very serious subject matter. The story is extremely interesting in the fact, I think they were saying Emily Blunt wanted a role where the woman was morally ambiguous. And so she still had things wrong with her. She wasn't like the Savior, or the total protagonist, her morality has a big mix of, "Okay, she's doing something wrong, but she's also trying to do the right thing." So it was a very interesting character for her.

Lee Pugsley  
Nice. So that was your whole movie slate for the four days you were at TIFF, correct?

Alex Howard  
Yes, yeah, I did a lot of panels too, I went to a Del Toro panel, there was a panel about disability. And honestly, sleep is so huge at TIFF, at any big festival, but you are so exhausted by like day two. And you're just like, I do not want to fall asleep in these movies. So there were some times, like I had a ticket to Next Goal Wins. And I was like, "You know what, like I said, I'm gonna see it again, with audio description, I'm gonna sit this one out and go take a nap or something so that I can, you know, actually have the energy to go do other things."

Lee Pugsley  
Yeah, for those listeners out there who haven't been to a film festival, or don't know exactly how it works, it's pretty crazy. There's always movies that you can see, like you could literally go see a movie throughout the whole entire day, and just fill your day with back to back movies with no breaks. The other thing that's tricky about that, too, is sometimes you're going to see like two or three movies that you'll want to see. But they're going to be at the same time. So then you have to kind of pick and choose which movie takes priority. And it can get very challenging to juggle all those dynamics. Would you say that that seems like an accurate analysis, Alex?

Alex Howard  
Yeah, I think it's funny, because since I was so limited in my choices, like I am so thankful for having audio description there at all. But since there were, you know, only 12 movies with it there, it made my choices a little bit easier. But then at the same time, there would be a Showtime with audio description during the industry happy hour or during the disability panel. And I was like, "Okay, I need to prioritize in that sense." But yeah, there's always movies if you are just, "Oh, I want to go to a movie," literally anytime you can go step into one.

Lee Pugsley  
Yeah, it's just crazy how much content exists at these film festivals. And I'm super excited about the movies you saw, and I can't wait to see them when they're more widely available.

Alex Howard  
Yeah, I'm excited to hear your opinion on them too.

Lee Pugsley  
Well, thank you for sharing about your experience at TIFF and once again, we are going to be doing another episode talking about accessibility at these film festivals. So stay tuned for that one. But in the meantime, if you have any questions or comments about the movies Alex saw at the Toronto International Film Festival, or any other comments, you can always email us at DarkRoomFilmCast@gmail.com Once again, that's DarkRoomFilmCast@gmail.com And a special shout out to Matt Lauterbach and All Senses Go for making transcripts of this episode and all other podcast episodes accessible for film lovers of all abilities. And be sure to stay tuned for the next episode when we continue this conversation about Alex's experience at TIFF, and we also touch on accessibility at film festivals. Thank you so much for listening.

Alex Howard  
See you next time guys.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai