A scene from the movie Ceremony, which screened at this year's TIFF. (TIFF)

By Roger Rousseau, citizen contributor

Whenever I mention that I'm seeing a film at TIFF to people who have never attended, they often ask me how I got my ticket, or how they can get tickets or comment, with a tone of unattainability, that they would love to catch a festival screening sometime.

It seems that there's a false perception of exclusivity that surrounds the festival among non-TIFFers. Many people don't seem aware that it's relatively easy to get tickets for TIFF. What follows is a timeline of my attempt at attending a TIFF screening on Wednesday by buying a same-day ticket; something that anyone off the street can accomplish.

2:15 p.m. I arrive outside the TIFF box office. I take a look at the board that displays films screening that afternoon. Most of them are listed as being on sale. Since only the titles and times are listed, I pick up a copy of the official film schedule to get some extra info. Within it, I can see the country of origin, the name of the director and which program the film belongs to. I notice a film titled Curling, whose director is D. Cot. It must be Denis Cot, a Qubcois filmmaker whose films I've often seen and enjoyed at TIFF. I decide I want to see this, but then realize that I can't because the screening is at 2:30 p.m. at the AMC. I would never make it on time.

2:20 p.m. After scanning over the titles some more, and deciding that I don't want to see a film that starts too late, I narrow down my choices to a film called You Are Here and another film titled Ceremony. I decide on these films for no other reason than the first is Canadian, and the second is directed by an American filmmaker with the last name Winkler, which makes me think of Henry Winkler, which then makes me think of the Fonz giving me a thumbs-up. Because a film being Canadian is a more rational deciding factor than an "ayyyy" from the Fonz, I finally choose You Are Here.

2:25 p.m. The line at the box office is short. I don't wait more than a minute or so. I request a ticket for You Are Here, but it turns out that none are available (it happens sometimes that the board outside isn't precisely up-to-date). The ticket agent suggests that I try the rush line for the film. But, I would rather leave with a ticket in hand, certain that I will be seeing a film that afternoon. So, I request a ticket for my second choice, Ceremony. It's available. It starts at 3:30 p.m. across the city at the Varsity. I rush out of the box office.

2:30 p.m. I stop outside of Roy Thomson Hall to pick up a free promotional sample of Vitaminwater. Score!

2:40 p.m. After taking a moment to tweet about what I'm up to and send out a couple of quick emails, I descend into St. Andrew subway station.

2:55 p.m. If you know which way to go, you can make your way from Bay station to the Manulife Centre, where the Varsity is located, without ever stepping outside and with minimal pedestrian traffic slowing you down. That's the path I take. Also, I know there's a washroom on the way where I can make a pit stop.

3:00 p.m. No toilet paper left in the only available stall. I'll wait until I get to the Varsity.

3:05 p.m. Ticket-holders have already been let in, so I go straight in and find myself a seat.

3:10 p.m. Toilet paper!

3:15 p.m. Back to my seat again. Yes, I did leave all my belongings there unattended. Maybe I'm naive, but I think TIFFers are trustworthy people.

3:35 p.m. We're getting the intro for our screening. Don't forget, until this point, I didn't know anything about the film. Turns out that the director, Max Winkler, also directed the web series Clark and Michael. This already seems promising. Then we're told that Winkler and the star of the film are there to introduce it, but won't be able to stick around for a Q&A afterwards because they have a flight to catch. Director and actor come up, introduce the movie and tell us that they will in fact do a Q&A. Nice!

3:40 p.m. The film starts. And it stars that guy who played the young version of William Miller in Almost Famous (I later find out that his name is Michael Angarano, the actor who accompanied Max Winkler for the intro). And Uma Thurman is a lead in this too. Although the film is filled with characters that are unlikeable at the beginning, they eventually win me over. So does Max Winkler, who provides a very satisfying ending, despite not giving full resolution to the story.  I later read the description for this film on the TIFF website. Had I read it before, I probably wouldn't have picked this movie. I'm glad I saw it though.

Around 5:10 p.m. The film ends and Max Winkler and Michael Angarano return for a Q&A. Even though they're pressed for time, they are very generous with their answers. It turns out that Henry Winkler is Max's father ... "ayyyy!"

And thus ends a single, same-day ticket purchase and screening, that in all took little effort and only three hours of my time. Now, get out there and see something!

You can follow Roger throughout #TIFF10 on twitter at @roger_writes