With the current state of affairs, this year’s TIFF was a much-needed opportunity for Torontonians to distract themselves with the power of film. There were over 50 screenings taking place, many of them at local drive-in theatres, letting locals dive into fascinating, heart-wrenching, compelling stories from the world’s best filmmakers.
So, when
Mazda approached a group of influential Torontonians to test drive their CX-9 Signature to a 9 p.m. screening of Enemies of the State, they jumped at the chance for an evening of indulgent escapism at its finest. The Sonia Kennebeck documentary follows Matt DeHart, a hacktivist with ties to Anonymous and WikiLeaks, who was indicted on charges of child pornography and spent 21 months in prison. He alleged he was tortured due to sensitive files he had on his computer, and, after being released on bond, his family sought political asylum in Canada, which is where the strange tale picks up.
Here’s what some of the evening’s revellers said about the movie, the CX-9 and their much-needed break from reality:
“The evening started with a personalized automobile drop-off from one of Mazda’s ambassadors. They sanitized every inch of the car outside before letting us know it was ready and providing the lowdown on some of the model’s coolest features—of which there were plenty. The first thing we noticed was how high-end everything seemed. What we learned about Mazda compared to other popular car companies is that since they don’t have an upscale counterpart, they’re able to show off their highest- quality work in every Mazda model, without worrying about keeping certain features exclusive to their fancier brand.
We loved the sleek and sporty exterior, and especially our ride’s colour, a deep crimson that was certainly worthy of the special occasion. Inside, music, navigation and heating were all a breeze to figure out from the intuitive centre-console control system, which is hooked up to a flat-screen between the two front seats. Once we were on the road, a futuristic LED display located exactly at eye level through the front windshield showed us our speed, so we never had to glance down at the dash- board. The engine was so silent that we could barely tell if it was on.