Movie stars got it tough? What about the fans?

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - If film stars think attending festivals can be tough, they should try being a fan.

Earlier this month at the Venice film festival an admirer startled Brad Pitt when she broke through security to hug him, and at the Toronto International Film Festival this week Michael Douglas bypassed fans at a gala screening by entering his movie "King of California" through a parking garage.

But what about their devoted fans?

At festivals, vacations become jobs, movie screenings get crammed back-to-back and seeing films can become exhaustive experiences standing in line or pulling all-nighters.

With more than 300 movies, there is plenty to try to squeeze in during the Toronto festival's 10 days. Last year, the festival counted more than 340,000 admissions.

"Next year I might take my vacation time during the festival," said Jeremy LaLonde, a film editor who was in line at the Toronto festival to see Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream". "It's research too."

LaLonde said he left work early to get "rush" tickets with his wife after already seeing four films this week.

University student Andrea Aldrovandi skipped class and drove more than two hours just to see one film. Other fans spend four or five hours in line.

But truth be told, festival goers said attending the Toronto festival has many good sides. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there.

Winnie Ho, a 25-year-old engineer and festival volunteer, commutes in from Toronto's suburbs for the festival and this year has been ushering filmmakers around the event.

"On the days we're not volunteering, we're watching movies," said Gordon Tam, a 26-year-old software developer who was with Ho. By volunteering they can get in free.

Two young German women -- Verena Recknagel of Dresden and Susanne Kirchner of Bavaria -- have turned into top-notch star spotters, snapping photographs of Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen and Geoffrey Rush on red carpets across the city.

They hoped to see if rumors of a Heath Ledger appearance were true. "I've never seen a star like that ever," said an excited Recknagel.

Then again, there is the girls' story of Michael Douglas skipping the stroll up the red carpet past adoring fans to sneak into a theater via an underground garage.

"He could at least have gotten out of the car," said Kirchner. "He was being stupid."