McKellar film to debut at Toronto fest
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 4, 2004 | 12:57 PM ET
CBC Arts
Childstar, McKellar's follow-up to Last Night, will have its world premiere at the festival, which runs from Sept. 9 to 18.
In the film, McKellar – known for comedic turns in waydowntown and on television's Twitch City – plays an experimental filmmaker who is drafted to be the driver for the world's most famous child actor.
Flaherty, meanwhile, will turn up in the comedy Phil the Alien, director Rob Stefaniuk's feature about an extraterrestrial who crash-lands in a small town in northern Ontario and winds up an alcoholic. Stefaniuk plays the titular alien.
Don McKellar in his 'Twitch City' days. (CP photo)
The films from McKellar and Stefaniuk were among the Canadian offerings announced at a press conference held on Tuesday.
As they have done in the past, the festival's organizers are holding several press conferences in the run-up to its official start. Tuesday is the day they set aside to make public the details about homegrown films.
This year represents a new beginning of sorts for the festival. Perspective Canada, the 20-year-old program devoted to domestic filmmakers, has been replaced by two new programs – Canada First!, which focuses on emerging Canadian directors, and Short Cuts Canada, which offers short films.
Set in Hamilton, Ont., Michael McGowan's Saint Ralph – about a Grade 9 student whose quest is to win the 1954 Boston Marathon – is the opening-night film for Canada First!. Its stars include Gordon Pinsent and Jennifer Tilly.
Also partly set in Hamilton, Olivier Assayas' Clean will have its North American debut at the festival. It stars Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte in what is being billed as "the powerful story of a mother's struggle to regain control of her life so that she may win back what she desires most – the love and custody of her son."
Noah Cowan, the festival's newly appointed co-director, revealed at Tuesday's press conference that Hamilton also happens to be his birthplace. "People wonder how films get in the festival," he joked.
Cowan and his staff selected 74 Canadian films to showcase after sorting through a total of 635 submissions, 200 of which were features.
Among the shorts being offered this year is one called Girl Cleans Sink by Sook-yin Lee, host of CBC Radio's Definitely Not the Opera, as well as Sissy Boy Slap Party from Guy Maddin and Brad Peyton's A Tale of Bad Luck.
This year's festival will also feature special events like the evening devoted to remembering film interviewer Brian Linehan, which will be hosted by Roger Ebert on Sept. 17. The festival will also be joining the "blogo-sphere" this year with Director's Dish, a daily online journal to be written by Rob Stefaniuk, the director of Phil the Alien.
