From her vantage point in the Toronto International Film Festival sales office, director Kelley Alexander says Lynne Stopkewich’s first feature Kissed ‘was the Antonia’s Line’ of this year’s festival, and it just happened to be Canadian.

‘The morning after the first screening, all the buyers showed up,’ says Alexander.

While Canadian, u.s. and worldwide deals have been cemented for Kissed, Alexander says she expects footwork during the festival to result in a number of post-festival agreements for other Perspective Canada features.

Deepa Mehta’s Fire, which opened Perspective Canada this year, inked a deal for worldwide rights with London, Eng.-based CiBY Sales a day before the fest began. Executive producer David Hamilton says one ‘major territory’ in Europe was signed during the festival and another signed subsequently. Four major u.s. distribs expressed interest and the film collected invites from festivals including London and Chicago.

Rhombus International holds worldwide rights to David Wellington’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Rhombus’ Sheena Macdonald says she’s in the midst of negotiations in the u.s. and Germany.

Peter Lynch’s feature-length documentary Project Grizzly enjoyed a healthy buzz during the festival, not to mention copious amounts of press. Of the nfb in general, sales exec Joanne Leduc says ‘this was an exceptional year in terms of our presence at the market.’

While still handling Grizzly inquiries from the film’s screening at the Montreal fest, Leduc says there was strong interest from the u.k. in Toronto but nothing has been confirmed.

Leduc expects that Pierre Hebert’s animated feature La Plante humaine, for which the nfb shares rights with Arcadia Films of France, may spark u.s. television interest thanks to the live-action performance of Michael Lonsdale.

According to Norstar’s vp of distribution Andy Myers, Anna Benson Gyles’ Swann has competing interests in the u.s. Swann, based on the novel by Carol Shields, will be released in major Canadian markets on Nov. 8.

Malofilm’s Loredana Cunti says Pierre Gang’s Sous-sol had interest from two specialized u.s. distributors and agents in Germany. ‘I think the buzz and the favorable reviews will help us at mifed,’ says Cunti.

Calgary filmmaker Paul DiStefano’s Trouble, which suffered a few barbs in the local press, garnered interest nonetheless. A rep from cfp is working on getting it screened and producer Paul Goodman says ‘that’s the biggest name interest we’ve had so far.’ Panorama, a small New York-based indie distributor, has expressed interest in picking up worldwide rights and launching a city-by-city release in North America.

Denis Langlois, director of L’Escorte, says a long-term distribution strategy is in place for his film. Montreal’s Cinema Libre has worldwide rights. L’Escorte has a theatrical release on two Cineplex Odeon screens in Montreal Sept. 27 ­ one original French version and one English version ­ and will be released later in other Quebec cities.

‘We’d like to attend some of the European festivals to build up interest before releasing in the rest of Canada,’ says Langlois.

Producer Glen Salzman says Power, the Magnus Isacsson doc about the Cree vs. Hydro-Quebec, is in discussions with the Sundance festival and Berlin. The film will open in Toronto and Montreal on Oct. 13 and in Vancouver after the Vancouver International Film Festival. Power will air on tvontario in February.

Robin Schlaht’s Moscow Summer and Ileana Pietrobruno’s Cat Swallows Parakeet and Speaks! were both repped at the festival by the directors. Schlaht says all rights to his film are still available, although he has had inquiries from Canadian distributors. Pietrobruno missed all but the last three days of the fest, but says there is a spark from a small American indie label.

Colleen Murphy’s Sh’emaker, from the Feature Film Project, is repped worldwide by Toronto’s Cinema Esperanca. Rep Andre Bennett says he’s trying to get an invite to Berlin and Rotterdam and the film will be at both mifed and mipcom. There was a range of international interest in the film including three German distributors, two mid-sized u.s. distributors and agents from Italy, Spain and France.

Michael McNamara’s The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati is in the midst of signing with a Canadian distributor and interest was displayed in the u.s. and u.k.

After an eight-month festival circuit, Bruce LaBruce says he saw Toronto primarily as a screening opportunity for his film Hustler White. ‘The film was financed through recoupable advances,’ says LaBruce, ‘so the distribution was pretty much set up.’ Toronto’s Handsome Boy is the distributor in Canada and rights are secured in North America, Germany, Japan and the u.k.

Colin Strayer’s biographical doc Rod Serling: Writer was still in post during the festival and did not screen. In the u.s., a&e has a five-year first window for North America.

No Toronto deals were reported for John Greyson’s Lilies or Srinivas Krishna’s Lulu, although agents from the u.s. and Benelux have expressed interest in Lulu. Alliance Independent Films has worldwide rights for both.