Tackling a film festival of MIFF’s magnitude takes planning, courage and a degree of strategy that would not be out of place in a seasoned military campaign. Regardless of whether you’re a festival novice or a seasoned trouper, here are a few suggestions that might help you get the most out of your MIFF experience.

Research
Every film in the program is written up in such glowing terms that it’s hard to know which of them are actually any good. If you have limited time and money, you don’t want to waste your Mini Pass selections on a dud. This is where websites such as the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), Senses of Cinema (www.senseofcinema.com) and even plain old Google are invaluable. Finding a few reviews of the films you’re interested in from other festivals or overseas press can go a long way towards helping you determine your final Festival selection.

Eavesdrop
Queues are a part of life at MIFF, and while they may be annoying, they also provide an excellent means of discovering which films are the hot favourites of the Festival each year. Despite the fact that your mother probably told you it was impolite to listen in on other people’s conversations, eavesdropping in a MIFF queue is a great way of discovering what the people around you have seen and what they might recommend. So while you’re standing there, waiting to shuffle slowly forward, prick up your ears and tune in to the conversations around you: you might chance upon something special as a consequence.

Make new friends
Introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you. Ask them what they’ve seen, what they recommend, and what films they would avoid this year. Not only will this pass the time until the film starts, but it’s also an excellent way of widening your radar to include some film choices you may not have considered. It might also encourage you to cross a film off your list if your neighbour describes it as ‘a cinematic abomination’ or ‘the single worst film I’ve ever seen’.

Take some risks
Are you normally the sort of person who avoids a particular genre of film the way John Howard avoids apologies? Maybe this year it’s time to let your hair down. Take in a documentary on a subject unknown to you, or submerse yourself in a short film package. If you adore Iranian cinema, take the chance on a British horror film as well. Think of the festival as a buffet’pile up your plate with a little bit of everything. MIFF is a cinematic feast for all manner of palates, and you shouldn’t be afraid to sample widely from the menu.

Queue-jumping
This will be a point of contention with some people, but in the dead of winter, do you really want to stand at the end of a long queue in Russell Street? Handy tactics to cut into the queue include keeping an eye out for friends and acquaintances further up the line, and claiming that you need to use the toilets in the Capitol foyer, or the upstairs candy bar at the Forum, and afterwards merging with the line as it begins to flow forward. A little cheating goes a long way when it ensures that you can grab a good seat.

Eating
Plastic bags rustling noisily behind me in the cinema are one of my pet hates, and I know I’m not alone in this. If you’re taking supplies of food and other substances to help sustain you through the Festival, then try to ensure that they’re not going to impact on the crowd around you when you decide to have a nibble halfway through the film. Nuts, dried fruit and other healthy snacks are recommended, as is a thermos of good coffee or a revitalizing hipflask of scotch.

Documenting
If you’re seeing three or four films a day, they’re going to start blurring together after a while. A notebook is handy for jotting down comments on the films that you’ve seen, and will also proves useful should you manage to score a date’or at least the suggestion of a good film in the program that you’ve overlooked’in the queue for your next movie.

Richard Watts is the host of 3RRR’s flagship arts program, SmartArts, which airs Thursdays between 9am-midday on 102.7 FM.