Emilio Estevez and father Martin Sheen pose on the red carpet during this year's TIFF. Veteran festival volunteer Sachin Hingoo has seen many stars throughout his eight years with TIFF. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

By Sachin Hingoo, citizen contributor

Eight years is a pretty long time to be depriving myself of glorious sleep for 10 days straight -- attending a Midnight Madness screening that goes until 2 a.m., waking up early to do a volunteer shift from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and spending the afternoon in a theatre (or three) before doing it all over again. Sure, it takes a toll on you both mentally and physically, but I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

I've always had a passion for film, and TIFF is tailor made for people like me. Where else can I see the greatest films on the planet, often in the same room as the people that worked on that project for so long? Where else can you see films that, like Up In The Air, Precious, Slumdog Millionaire and countless others, have gone on to win Oscars and other accolades from the film community and see them before anyone else?

On top of that, as a volunteer you get to see a side of the festival that few others do. The insane amount of work that goes into co-ordinating a screening for one film -- to say nothing of the 339 films screening at this year's festival -- is pretty staggering, and once you volunteer, you never take that stuff for granted ever again. If you've attended any TIFF screening over the years, you've probably seen us -- working as ushers in the theatre, organizing lines outside, or providing information. But there can be so much more to volunteering with TIFF that the patrons of the festival don't get to see. Volunteers organize clippings at the press office, greet actors, directors and other industry figures at the airport, and even co-ordinate other volunteers at the volunteer office.

So over the next few days of TIFF, I'll be providing a glimpse into what we, the volunteers, see and do. Hopefully it will shed some light on all the hard work of the volunteers and the importance of the volunteer program to the festival. And now, to bed!