Director Sophie Fiennes (left) kicked off TIFF on Thursday with the North American premiere screening of her film, The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, to a packed house at the ROM on Thursday. The three-part film features the witty and insightful Slavoj ?i?ek discussing everything from sexuality in the works of Lynch, Kubrick and Hitchcock to how film is equal to viewing shit backing up a toilet. Needless to say, Fiennes had many questions to answer in the Q & A after the screening. The director also shared anecdotes about shooting on location of such classic films as The Birds and The Conversation before attending the Pervert's Guide party hosted by Salon Jie across the street.

The plush, red carpet was rolled out at the new Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, leading guests towards a blue, flame-twirling woman on stilts and a loinclothed man dancing with his very phallic trident, to live African drum beats. Unsuspecting gazers had their figures projected in giant shadows across the facade of the ROM. And all this before you even got inside.

If you saw the film, feel free to comment below or ask the director questions to be answered in later blog entries...

You can also visit the Pervert's Guide web site.