Reflecting on celebrity encounters during TIFFTY

It’s been a few weeks since my first TIFF, and I think I’ve finally put my finger on this weird feeling I’ve been having about the two celebrity encounters I had. I haven’t met any celebrities before - if I see someone famous in public I feel bad about bothering them lol. Here are my two encounters that feel so different in my mind:

After the Carolina Caroline screening, I got to meet Kyle Gallner. I asked him to sign my Strange Darling Blu-Ray and told him I loved the movie. He said thank you, signed it, moved on to the next. People were swarming this dude. I know he’s super generous with his fans, but it really felt like we were all treating him like an idea of a person instead of an actual person. He doesn’t have time to have a real conversation in a situation like this, but I got what I needed and went on with my night. For some reason I want to absolutely shrivel up and die every time I think about it.

My second celebrity interaction was during a Q&A for NTBTSTM. I asked Matt Johnson a question about the guerrilla filming style of the show and the movie, and he gave me a considered answer while looking right at me. It felt like we had a genuine moment of interaction between two people. Every time I remember that Matt Johnson gave me a moment of his attention I’m over the moon. It feels good to know that I got to genuinely engage with someone’s work and have a brief conversation about it.

Anyway, my lesson for next year is going to be raising my hand sooo high in Q&As, and skipping the swarming of celebrities after the show.