Flocking

The morning was barely ten o'clock when Chanelle Laurent set off for the cinema. After a day of ferment and clamor yesterday, "Buried" had truly made a name for itself in Toronto. It had even attracted more attention than "The Town". Therefore, one could imagine that today's audience would be even more overwhelming. Even those who just wanted to join in the excitement were numerous.

The screening of "Buried" was scheduled for five in the afternoon, with only this single showing available. The film was open to the public in two different venues. Chanelle left early in the morning, considering that she might need to queue.

However, two blocks away from the cinema, Chanelle could already see a bustling crowd moving into her line of sight. This surprised her greatly, and she quickly jogged her way over, only to witness the terrifyingly long line.

Chasing after the end of the line, she discovered that it stretched for over four hundred yards. It looped around the entire square, winding through seven or eight turns, like a dragon coiling in an open space. Its tail even extended to the next street over. This spectacle was truly jaw-dropping. The surging crowd numbered at least five hundred people, if not more. The lively scene left the surrounding journalists incredibly excited. The coming and going of people ignited a frenzy at the 35th Toronto Film Festival.

Seeing this scene, Chanelle was left dumbfounded. She strongly doubted if she had come to the right place. How could "Buried" possibly attract so many viewers?

It was an accident, an absolute accident. The Toronto Film Festival had never anticipated such a scenario.

According to normal circumstances, independent films like "Buried", without big names, gimmicks, or even sponsorships, usually struggled to garner attention.

Although Toronto was a film festival, it still differed from the three major European festivals. In Europe, the market for art films was far more mature and extensive than in North America. Independent works were significantly more popular at film festivals. However, in Toronto, it was more of a movie rights trading market. Even the sole award was the People's Choice Award. In the era of the internet, lacking attention-grabbing factors and promotion meant lacking an audience. The days of good wine not needing a bush were long gone.

Thus, the Toronto Film Festival had scheduled the premiere of "Buried" for four in the afternoon, even though only six films in the festival were global premieres, with "Buried" being one of them. It still didn't receive special treatment. Therefore, in terms of screening scheduling, the Toronto Film Festival adhered to its usual tradition, arranging three showings for each venue. This number might not be many, but it was considered normal.

Generally, the screenings for popular films ranged from eight to twelve showings, while less popular films had around three to five. After all, the film festival had a total of fifty-one films to screen within just ten days. If there hadn't been an unexpected incident, three showings for "Buried" would have sufficed.

When scheduling slots and venues for films, the Toronto Film Festival had not foreseen the obscurity of the Emmy Awards, the hot topic of "Ophelia", the fervor on YouTube that even created a miracle on the Billboard charts, or the astounding emergence of "Buried".

And so, the unexpected occurred – a queue that stretched over four hundred yards, easily surpassing both "Blue Valentine" and "The Town", undeniably becoming the most highly anticipated film at this year's festival.

One of the traditions and landmarks of the Toronto Film Festival was the "rush line". Aside from premieres, the festival screenings were generally divided into industry screenings and public screenings. Industry screenings were for exhibitors, producers, and the media, while public screenings were open to the general public and the tickets were available for sale before the festival opened. Tickets for popular films often sold out quickly, leaving many disappointed.

However, there were still other opportunities to get tickets thanks to the film festival frenzy.

Firstly, each morning at seven o'clock, a limited number of last-minute tickets for that day's screenings would be released online. People could try to get these tickets by queuing online or by directly purchasing them at the cinema. These tickets were extremely limited and often sold out in a flash.

The second opportunity was the rush line. Before every screening, any remaining seats that weren't occupied would be given out on-site to those waiting in the rush line. The rush line was straightforward and fair – first come, first served. Nobody knew how many seats would be left in the end, so queuing early was the only way to secure a chance.

Thus, this had also become a phenomenon of the Toronto Film Festival. "How many meters are the audience queuing?" had become one of the best indicators for measuring a film's popularity in the media.

Of course, this phenomenon was restricted to popular films. Films like "The Illusionist" might still have leftover tickets right up until the last moment before the screening or even have empty seats. This situation wasn't uncommon at film festivals, especially in Toronto where the capacity for appreciating art films was generally weaker than in Europe.

The general admission tickets for "Buried" weren't in high demand. Chanelle had managed to buy tickets for the premiere screening of the film with minimal effort before the festival. In fact, there were still quite a few tickets left for the premiere screening. All of them were sold on-site, and the theater ended up being completely full. This unexpected surprise was truly heartening.

Even the tickets for the premiere screening were like this, not to mention the subsequent screenings. Tickets for all three screenings hadn't reached even forty percent in terms of presales. "Buried" had absolutely no form of promotion before this. Rodrigo had finished the post-production work at the last moment, barely making the submission deadline. This caused the film's early-stage promotion to be nearly non-existent. For most of the audience, this film was basically a side attraction.

But who could have imagined that it would start with the early morning screening yesterday, with all the tickets sold out and even leading to a line forming with around thirty viewers waiting for a chance. And now, today's rush line had stretched over four hundred yards. Such a scenario was simply unimaginable.

Chanelle quickly asked the staff member at the front of the line responsible for maintaining order, "Is this the screening for "Buried"?" After receiving a confirmation, Chanelle was momentarily taken aback. She didn't know how to react for a moment. The staff member seemed to have understood Chanelle's expression and nodded with a smile, saying, "Yes, no one anticipated this. You better hurry, or you might not make it in the queue."

Chanelle finally snapped out of it and sprinted forward. She could hear the voice of a staff member behind her, "Don't get in the wrong line, the left one is for the afternoon. The right one is for the morning." Chanelle hastily made an "OK" gesture and then quickly moved towards the line. Despite this delay of less than five minutes, the line had extended by more than a dozen people. Chanelle promptly positioned herself at the end of the line, standing there, breathless.

"I hope we can still make it," a teasing voice came from ahead. Chanelle raised her head and saw a blond young man in front of her. He extended his right hand in a friendly manner, "Tyronn Johnson." Chanelle shook his right hand but didn't introduce herself, wearing a skeptical expression. Tyronn didn't mind and grinned, "I heard that today's venue can hold six hundred people. The online ticket sales in the morning were canceled due to a system crash. So, everyone rushed over here. Let's hope we can still get in line."

Chanelle finally caught on, "But "Buried" is scheduled for 5 PM. What about the earlier screenings?"

"To the right," Tyronn pointed. A single venue would screen six to seven films in a day. "Buried" was the fourth film of the day, with three before it. This included the hit film "The Town". However, judging from the rush line, the queue for "The Town" was even less than one-fifth of that for "Buried". This significant contrast was truly astonishing. "Did you also hear about the good reviews for this film, which is why you came all the way here?"

Tyronn struck up a conversation with enthusiasm. Chanelle wasn't inclined to respond, but after thinking for a moment, she answered, "No, I've already seen the premiere screening."

In reality, Chanelle hadn't planned to watch it again. On one hand, the film was too thrilling and intense, making the viewing experience far from pleasant. On the other hand, "Buried" wasn't a film worthy of repeated watching. However, over the past couple of days, she couldn't get Renly's face out of her mind. Especially the fear and panic amidst the interplay of light and shadow. That haunting and captivating performance had left her utterly mesmerized.

After much hesitation, Chanelle decided to watch it again. But now she was facing this situation, and she felt the premiere screening had actually been much more comfortable.

"God, you've already seen the premiere, right? How was it? Is it truly as legendary and outstanding as they say?" Tyronn asked excitedly. "I heard the male lead's acting is incredible. Is that true or just an exaggeration?"

Without any hesitation, Chanelle responded immediately, "It's definitely true!"

Her exclamation immediately drew the attention of others around them. Curious inquiries swarmed in, "What kind of film is it exactly? Isn't the male lead, Renly Hall, a newcomer? No one noticed it before. How did it suddenly become so popular overnight? What's the film about? How's the male lead's performance? Is it true that some people cried after watching it?"

The bustling inquiries quickly overwhelmed Chanelle. The people in the queue around her were all looking at her. In the blink of an eye, she had become the center of attention. Amidst those eager gazes, she could clearly feel the enthusiasm and anticipation of the people.

Chanelle subconsciously glanced at Tyronn, who encouraged her with a fist pump. This made Chanelle slightly amused, and then she spoke up louder, "Yes, the male lead is indeed a newcomer, but his performance is truly remarkable. The first time I saw him was in..."

The queue for the rush line stretched out grandly, pushing the fervor of the Toronto Film Festival to new heights.