TIFF Red Carpet: Che

September 10, 2008 by Liam
Filed under: Movie News

I was on hand Tuesday night at “Greenhouse @ 99 Sudbury” here in Toronto for the party for Che. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Che is a 2-part movie starring Benicio Del Toro as Latin American revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. I considered attending the press screening for this movie earlier this week, but at 262 minutes (4 hours 22 minutes), I realistically couldn’t fit it into my schedule.

Part 1 of the movie held it’s first public screening Tuesday night at the Elgin Theatre (Toronto’s Visa Screening Room). Part 2 will show Wednesday night at the same location. Following that, there will be an additional screening of Parts 1 & 2 on Thursday and Friday respectively. Perhaps I’ll look into getting tickets.

Back to the party, expected guests included Soderbergh, Del Toro, Benjamin Bratt (who also stars in the movie) and Matt Damon. I thought I’d go for the opportunity to take a few photos and maybe at the chance of getting in and having a drink. Arrivals were scheduled to begin at 11pm so I arrived around 10:40 to find that Benicio Del Toro was already on the red carpet. I snapped a few photos and waited around for more arrivals. And I waited. And waited. And waited some more. The only other guest to arrive was Lou Diamond Phillips who makes an appearance in Part 2 of the movie. No Steven Soderbergh. No Matt Damon. We were told there was a chance that Rachel McAdams might show up, but it never materialized. By this time it was after midnight and I was freezing cold. Luckily, I was allowed into the venue to grab some hors d’oeuvres and a bottle or two of Heineken. So I guess the night wasn’t a total loss. Check out the photos below.

Benicio Del Toro at Greenhouse @ 99 Sudbury in Toronto for the movie “Che”

Lou Diamond Phillips at Greenhouse @ 99 Sudbury in Toronto for the movie “Che”