Feds chip in $25M

The federal government has given $25 million to the Toronto International Film Festival for its new Festival Centre. The move follows a similar contribution from the Ontario government last month, and gives TIFF about $95 million of its $196-million target. The downtown complex will sport four screening rooms, an exhibition hall, offices and a reference library, and is a joint effort by TIFF, the Reitman family and condo-makers The Daniels Corporation. Groundbreaking is expected in 2006.

Sprockets turns eight

The eighth Sprockets film festival for children is gearing up for its April 29 to May 8 run in Toronto, and will screen 30 features and 57 short films from 26 countries, including Korea, India and the Netherlands.

A gala screening of the Swedish feature Max & Josef – Double Trouble will kick off the public weekend program and, as in years past, there will be film craft workshops, a showcase of young filmmakers, and Reel Rascals, films for children aged three to seven.

Last year’s fest drew 17,000 people.

CBC nixes Commonwealth Games

CBC has announced it will not bid to broadcast the 2006 Commonwealth Games, meaning, with no other broadcasters expressing interest, that the Games may not be seen in Canada for the first time since the 1970s. The network is already set to air the Brier, the World Figure Skating Championships, the Winter Paralympics and the Olympic Winter Games at Turin at about this time next year, leaving little room for the two-week Commonwealth Games, set for March 15-26 in Melbourne, Australia.

The real world of ReelWorld

The ReelWorld Film Festival and its industry series rolls into Toronto April 13-15. One of the panels, ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About International Co-Productions,’ features filmmaker Deepa Mehta (Water); producer Amos Adetuyi (JOZI-H); Diane Boehme, CHUM’s director of independent production; and Harriet Heller, senior investment analyst for Telefilm Canada’s TV unit. They will discuss common pitfalls in working with other countries, and working with (and beyond) established treaties. See: www.reelworld.ca.