No worries

September 01
TIFF Down Under

Our final Australian and New Zealand selections are finally on our schedule. The final trade before the day the public descends upon the festival to buy tickets was probably excruciating: turned in Infamous and finally got a ticket for Suburban Mayhem with our fave Emily Barclay. And we have a ticket for Out of the Blue. If anyone out there wants to trade PENELOPE at 7:15 pm for my daytime PENELOPE leave a comment here.

Back at 04 TIFF, we had the most delightful chance to talk with the young Emily Barclay after the premiere of In My Father's Den. She really seemed to like Toronto and the plaudits she was receiving for her stunning performance in this Brad McGann work. She asked me what I was seeing next at the festival and I replied Somersault. Her response was surprising to the point she said she wanted to see that film which at that time was about to open in Australia. Emily Barclay returns to 06 Toronto International Film Festival in Suburban Mayhem and the Cate Shortland tv piece The Silence. We have a thing for movies called The Silence - especially if you are a fan of the Ingmar Bergman trilogy.

Seeing Abbie Cornish after her poignant performance in Somersault at Isabel Bader Theatre at night was a tongue-tying experience. We managed to ask for an autograph to which she did and after we said thank you she gave me the "no worries". In fact we lined up once again in the rush line [ another one of those TIFF experiences that becomes mandatory for any TIFF attendee ] to see Somerault again at Cumberland Terrace. Abbie Cornish is back in two films - the one we are dying to see Candy [with someone named Heath Ledger] and Sir Ridley Scott's A Good Year.

We have had the best times watching movies from Australia and New Zealand - especially back in 2001 for Rain at the badly missed Uptown 1.

[Uptown 2 and 3 are missable except for the good times had there - Try 17with Elijah Wood and Mandy Moore in 2002- just after the release of the first Lord of the Rings episode on DVD - the fans descending upon him for autographs as soon as the Q&A finished and the look of terror on his face. So security had to clear the room - and Blue Car which was introduced with Agnes Bruckner in a little black dress; David Strathairn is a treat in this movie - and a standing ovation for the cast of The Station Agent - Patricia Clarkson, Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale].

And of course there was Whale Rider.

And Black Sheep?