With the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival upon us, FANGORIA readers have plenty to get excited about. From the delirium of BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, to the ballistic omnibus THE ABCs OF DEATH; from Rob Zombie’s THE LORDS OF SALEM to JT Petty’s THE HELLBENDERS; from THE SHINING doc ROOM 237 to the sexually bent THALE, terror is a major presence at the fest.

Much of this is due in no small part to the programming efforts of Colin Geddes, whose show-stopping Midnight Madness and Vanguard programs are turning heads with mouth watering lineups of diverse, weird cinema.

We talked briefly to Colin this week to get inside the psyche of the man who sure can pick ‘em…

FANGORIA: You have been at this game for years, do you still get excited?

COLIN GEDDES: Hell yeah! I'm always eager to find new films that take old conventions and twist and spin them on their heads. Discovering new stories like Ryuhei Kitamura's NO ONE LIVES, or pushing talent like JT Petty with HELLBENDERS always gets me excited.

FANG: What part of the process do you love the most? The quest? Securing the deal? Putting it together? Or the thrill it gives fans when you make “the announcement"?

GEDDES: I'm going to take the liberty of jumping to the final stage of the process, which is actually sharing the film on the big screen in front of 1200 fans at the Ryerson Theatre, which is the home of Midnight Madness. It's like glorified show & tell, and I love the energy that the audience gives to the director upon seeing the film for the first time. 

FANG: What a fantastic lineup this year; high quality, challenging and diverse fare. When you program, do you think in terms of theme? Is there kind of a narrative trajectory from the first screening to the last?

GEDDES: I never go into the process with a theme in mind, and themes that do emerge are purely organic. Sometimes I notice themes after the fact that are an interesting reflection of what's going on in the film industry or in the world, but it's never intentional on my part. I'm at the mercy of what films are available in a given year, but I always try to mix it up with a lineup of diverse films. If the lineup were all zombie films or all slasher films, I don't think the audiences would be as interested.

FANG: You have LORDS OF SALEM, an instant sell-out for sure. Do you have any plans to incorporate any kind of Rock 'N Roll spectacle into the screening?

GEDDES: I'm just after capturing Rob Zombie as a filmmaker for the evening, and I have a feeling that he likes to keep the two sides of himself separate, as each requires a different kind of talent and sensibility. (The truer answer for that question is that sadly, because there are five films playing in that venue ahead of us and we have to start on time at midnight, we have no time for a proper soundcheck).

FANG: Which features are you most excited about in Midnight Madness?

GEDDES: That's a hard question to answer because it's like picking your favorite children. Each selection has a different meaning to me. However, I am really excited to see the return of Midnight Madness alums like Kitamura, JT Petty, Don Coscarelli and Eli Roth, but I must admit that I'm also very proud to have THE ABCS OF DEATH with a total of 27 directors! Honestly, I don't know how we'll fit them all on the stage.

FANG: Vanguard. It's even more delicious than MM! Talk about the choice to veer into darker fantasy and pulp this round...

GEDDES: With the Vanguard Programme, we realized that there's an audience that likes their entertainment to be dark, edgy and sexy, but aren't into the extreme thrills that the Midnight Madness audience craves. Here, we can program films that straddle the line between arthouse and genre, bringing a more sophisticated experience to the audience with films like BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, THALE and ROOM 237. Every year, I see a lot of great films that just aren't quite right for Midnight Madness, and I'm thrilled that I have a place for them within TIFF. Vanguard allows me to share a broader spectrum of great cinema with the audience.

FANG: Finally, you have spoken to everyone, you have insight into the process, when can we expect a film by Colin Geddes at TIFF?

GEDDES: Honestly I think where my talents lie is in producing. I've got a few projects that I'm currently working on, but who knows. They might be too extreme even for Midnight Madness!

For more on this year’s stellar fest, head right here.

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MOVIES/TV - Fearful Features