Toronto Opens 2006 Festival with World Premiere of “The Journals of Knud Rasmussen”The largest and one of the most respected Film Festivals in the world will open its doors to the public with Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's “The Journals of Knud Rasmussen". Their last film "Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner),” had won the Camera D'or in Cannes and then the prize for best Canadian film here in Toronto in 2001. Festival Co-Director Noah Cowan felt that this was one of the most important film...

It's always a bit of a let-down when a big one like this wraps and you look through the catalogue noting oodles of films you were dying to see but just didn't have time to get to. Ouch! Among the most coveted 'near misses' (since it would have been possible to see them, but at the expense of missing other simultaneously scheduled events) I can list with sweet regret (and this is only a small sampling), the following: "The Notorious Betty Page" (with a fetishistically luscious Gretchen Mol); "Ab...

During the ten days of the Berlinale most Berlin dailies adorn their front page with large colour photos of celebrity clowning the night before. On Thursday, day number 7 of the fest, however, what was to be seen on all Berlin front pages were shots of men in hooded white spacesuits holding up dead swans fished out of the city lakes, or otherwise attempting to deal with the sudden arrival of the dreaded aviary virus in the midst of the city. Of course, this does not mean that we can expect to s...

During the ten days of the Berlinale most Berlin dailies adorn their front pages with large color photos of celebrity posturings the night before. On Thursday, day number 7 of the fest, however, what was to be seen on all Berlin front pages were shots of men in hooded white spacesuits holding up dead swans fished out of the city lakes, or otherwise attempting to deal with the sudden arrival of the dreaded aviarian flu virus in the midst of the city. Of course, this does not mean that we can exp...

One of the great assets for a journalist at the Berlin film festival is the very well organized press conference structure and the constant parade of leading figures, directors, stars and others, from film industries around the world. The day here starts out with two matinee press screenings of films in competition in the same giant hall, the Berlinale Palast, where the gala red-carpet screenings are held in the evening. These press screenings are immediately followed by a press conference in th...