The Circuit

Toronto seemed to lapse into its historic role as a stand-in for U.S. cities as the festival got under way.

It first resembled Hollywood as a smog warning was issued Friday and blue skies were coated by a layer of gray. Temperatures topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit (I think that's 12 in Metric) and more than a few dealmakers opted for shorts. Few things, by the way, take the edge off a business negotiation like the fact of one party wearing shorts.

New Yorkers in town for the fest did a double-take at the frenzy of taxi action, a welcome but noticeable change from a strike that has meant shared rides or long waits on most corners in Gotham. Outside the Gardiner Museum, site of an after-party for fest opener "Fugitive Pieces," the melodic Greek folk music drifting across the Modernist balcony belied the New York-esque jockeying by cabdrivers below.

One driver, believing he had been edged out by a rival hack, leaned his head out the window and let loose with a time-honored New York greeting: "Asshole!!" Was this polite Toronto, or the corner of Bowery and Canal?  - Dade Hayes