For many, TIFF is about partaking in a scintillating offering of international cinema. But to biz insiders, what is really most important at the fest is making new connections and picking up on the latest trends in the art and business of filmmaking. That said, all creative types, producers and distributors should find something of interest among this year’s programs at the Rogers Industry Centre.

This year’s Master Class will be conducted by visually inventive director Julie Taymor (Frida, Titus), who will discuss film directing as well as her forays in theatre. Oscar-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal (Frida), Taymor’s partner, will participate in an In Conversation session co-presented by the Guild of Canadian Film Composers, while director Bernard Shakey, aka rocker Neil Young, will sit for a chat about his new film/concept album Greendale.

The Maverick Filmmaker Programme gives voice to filmmakers with a unique approach to the film business. Confirmed so far are Ron Mann, whose doc Go Further will screen at TIFF; indie hero John Sayles, who brings his new film Casa de Los Babys, distributed by Odeon Films; and Sarah Green, executive producer of Deepa Mehta’s The Republic of Love.

And then there are the panels. Literary Adaptation features Mehta, whose new film is based on a Carol Shields book, and author Barbara Gowdy discussing the art of bringing novels to the big screen. Gowdy’s Falling Angels has been turned into a Canadian feature that preems at the fest.

Getting name actors on board small-budget productions is the name of the game in the Casting panel, which will include Ralph Zimmerman of Toronto’s Great North Artists Management, director Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park), independent New York casting director Ann Goulder and local casting director John Buchan.

There has indeed been a DVD Explosion in the past couple of years, and in a panel of that name experts will discuss how this distribution path gives new hope to productions that did little or no business in theatrical. Confirmed so far are independent film buyer Tom Brueggemann and Larry Meistrich, CEO of New York’s Film Movement.

Telefilm Canada News and Views, which launched last year, is back with a half-dozen strands aimed at informing filmmakers of various funding source options. Some of the speakers who will provide their first-hand insights are Anna Stratton and Julie Baines, producers of The Republic of Love; Telefilm executive director Richard Stursberg; Shirley Vercruysse, producer of A Problem with Fear; Anita Lee, producer of Proteus; and Martin Katz of Prospero Pictures. Also participating are Paul Trijbits of the UK Film Council, producer Sandra Cunningham, as well as Steve Hoban and Vincenzo Natali, the producer/director team on Nothing.

In Telefilm Canada Pitch This!, six Canuck writers or writing teams have been selected to pitch their feature ideas to the International Advisory Committee for Industry, which will choose a winner. The victor gets $10,000 toward pursuing their project at another major festival.

The National Film Board is sponsoring Doc Salon, which consists of daily one-hour sessions on issues relevant to the art of the documentary. Guests have not been announced.

Nestled within the Rogers Industry Centre headquarters is the OMDC Sales Office, which functions as a facilitator among filmmakers and producers of Perspective Canada films and international distribution and sales companies. The OMDC Sales Office reports registration of 355 companies from around the world, including new participants from Europe, South America, Asia, the Middle East, Mexico and the U.S. All 17 Perspective Canada features have some or all distribution rights up for grabs.

Meanwhile, cinema from across the pond is being represented through the European Film Promotion. Its flagship event is the European directors panel, entitled New Europe: Does European Filmmaking Have a Renewed Creative Edge and Sense of Purpose? Among the participants will be Peter Webber, whose U.K./Luxembourg copro Girl with a Pearl Earring is a TIFF gala presentation.

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