Canada

You've been working on your movie for how long? Take heart, A Single Shot clocks in around 15 years, probably longer if you factor in how long Matthew F. Jones worked on the novel he later adapted. Katherine Brodsky talks with star Sam Rockwell, the director, producer and others while on set in Vancouver.

Festival du Nouveau Cinema's Philippe Gajan explains how web docs are new media and not just documentaries on the web: "The place of the viewer is completely different now. You can choose the way you participate in the documentary." The Independent's Patrick Pearce gets the whole scoop on how the definition of nouveau changes from year to year.

Festival Music House invites Canadian musicians to apply for a spot on their three-day invite-only concert line-up that coincides with the Toronto International Film Festival. Mixing, matching, and marriage between motion picture and sound is encouraged and one of this year's featured performers, Adam Cohen, has no problem with that whatsoever.

Shorts programs may not garner headlines, or coverage at all for that matter, but there are MANY reasons to cut it short. The Independent's Katherine Brodsky spoke to five Canadian filmmakers at Toronto International Film Festival about why short is soo sweet.

For 23 years, the Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival has come at the heels of the Toronto International Film Festival. But Cinefest has no red carpet, and the only big name you’re likely to see is on the screen. John Charrette introduces us to one Ontario filmmaker whose name you should know, Benjamin Paquette. His fourth feature, (Non) Fiction premiered at Cinefest over the weekend.

In Red Shirley, notorious rocker Lou Reed asks his 101-year-old cousin, Shirley Novick, to share her wisdom on camera. Reed and Novick appeared with the short doc at its New York premiere at the New York Jewish Film Festival.

From a childhood of activism to the Reagan campaign of 1984, the late George Hickenlooper wrestled with politics on and off screen. He discussed his final effort, Casino Jack, a fictional re-telling of lobbyist Jack Abramoff's rise and fall, opening on December 17th, with The Independent.

Festival opening night can be a pressure cooker for both programmers and filmmakers. Katherine Brodsky examines how the gala premiere of Score, the Canadian hockey musical that opened the Toronto International Film Festival, hit all the right notes.

At the close of the Toronto International Film Festival and after taking in most of the fest's new Canadian releases, Katherine Brodsky noticed a common import: American fame.

The Independent's Patrick Pearce sits down with Fantasia International Festival's programmer Simon Laperrière to discuss the intersection between genre and auteur cinema at the festival, and genre films' most influential directors.