TIFF & Eleanor Wachtel: Books on Film Series
Eleanor Wachtel, host of CBC Radio’s premiere show on books, “Writer’s and Company,” is a self-proclaimed film buff. She’s got proof. She’s been going to the Toronto International Film Festival for 20 years. This is not, of course, to take away from her first love: books. By day she conducts long-form interviews with some of the greatest writers of our time. Last year, for instance, she interviewed Canadian legend Michael Ondaatje, Pulitzer winners Jennifer Egan and Jeffrey Eugenides, and the winner of last year’s Man Booker Prize, Julian Barnes. By night, however – or at least in what spare time she can find – she’s started doing a whole lot more than just attending film festivals.
It all started last year when the brain trust at TIFF came up with a subscription series called “Books on Film” to showcase in their fancy new glass digs, the Bell Lightbox. The series’ aim was to not only show quality film adaptations of great books, but also bring in their directors, writers, as well as critics or other experts on the arts to discuss these works. Who better then to select the films and do the interviewing but one of the CBC’s best interviewers and unabashed book (and film!) lovers?
I got the chance to chat with Ms. Wachtel last week to learn more about this very cool subscription series she’s heading up for the second time...
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