TIFF 911: Emergency crews are at the ready

TIFF 911: Emergency crews are at the ready

Lifesavers: the duty bound men of BlackBerry (Photo by Karon Liu)

Never say TIFF is all society, no humanity. Escalating to the press and industry floor at the Sutton Place, we were instantly compelled by a new addition to the festival: an emergency station manned by two square-jawed, uniformed rescue experts. They are here to provide life-support—or rather, technical support—for one’s life-support. It’s a BlackBerry tech-help desk. One of the reps told us that while BlackBerry missions have been present at other film fests, like Cannes, this is the first year they’ve touched down at TIFF.

“You’re going to save a lot of people here,” gushed a festival staffer to the handsome technicians-without-borders. One of them just nodded, seriously.