Actor Colin Firth arrives for the TIFF premiere of The King's Speech. The film was one of Christine Estima's favourite festival highlights. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

By Christine Estima, citizen contributor

1. Attending the gala presentation screening for Route Irish at the Elgin theatre. As the lights dimmed and the anti-piracy message came across the silver screen, the audience of approximately 1,200 people growled, "Arrrrrrrr!" (Pirates, get it?)

2. Attending the press and industry screening of The King's Speech, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter. The packed cinema of 500+ national and international media, floored by the near-flawless feature, erupted into a vociferous applause at the end. This is media, people. We're never impressed by anything!

3. The Tweets! Twitter was buzzing and bouncing every day with celeb photos, party invites, exclusive videos and news updates that were posted faster than the actual news sources could jump on them. #TIFF10 was a trending topic in Canada everyday. I got to exchange stories, converse with and meet so many amazing people because of that simple social media device. 140 characters FTW! (P.S., you can follow me on Twitter at @ChristineEstima)