Hot Docs - 2nd instalment

Tuesday: Saw Man On Wire, a fascinating doc about Philippe Petit who is a wirewalker (the coolest French word ever: funembule) who walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. At over 450 metres, it's still the highest wirewalk in history. Director James Marsh succeeds in building the suspense before the walk with another filmmaker's old stock footage of the training sessions in France as well as B&W re-enactments using stand-in New York locations. It's amazing to see the people interviewed today and how young they looked in the old footage from 30 years ago. Marsh also used footage from the construction of the WTC whose empty base at the outset looks eerily like Ground Zero after 9/11. Petit is charming and engrossing as a megalomaniac who is consumed by the art of the act, nothing more. It's interesting how the team bonded and grew together to support the project, then dissolved after the event took place. Well worth seeing - the title is how they labeled Petit's crime on the complaint form filed with the Port Authority.

Wednesday: Saw FLicKeR about Brion Gysin, friend of Beat poet William S. Burroughs and the Dream Machine that Gysin constructed to create a hypnotic, hallucinatory effect without drugs. An interesting account of the times including interviews with many of Gysin's old friends. Like many of my TIFF events, the more people on stage before the screening, the more disappointed I usually am. Director Nik Sheehan invited 20 people up to the front in advance of this World Premiere and the end result was okay, even a bit draggy. Should show up on Bravo (co-funder of this doc) in time. Weird to see Bravo! a division of CTV onscreen (I know that's the story but it's still weird not to see CHUM). My friend Chris should see this as a philosophy PhD from McGill, everyone else wait till it airs.

Friday: seeing Waiting for Hockney then Saturday cheering for my friends at the IDC Screening and Awards presentation at Hot Docs.