So it’s that time of year again when media outlets across the land set their sights on the indie film circuit via the Toronto International Film Festival, and in many cases even rally to the cause of Canadian film – an admittedly unsexy subject for the other 11 months of the year, but who’s counting?

It is not uncommon around this time to start seeing Canadian film profiles, pictures of Canadian actors and comments from Canadian directors running alongside gala party coverage and Hollywood celeb sightings in the National Post, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star….And while Playback is dedicated year-round to covering the business of Canadian film, we thought we’d get a little commercial about it this festival season and produce the first-ever All-Time Best Canadian Film List, an homage to some of the greatest achievements in Canadian films as voted on by our readers (see story, p.1).

With The Sweet Hereafter leading the pack, Goin’ Down the Road ranking #5 and Atanarjuat taking the 11th spot, our top-20 list of chosen films spans from 1970 all the way through to 2001, highlighting works from some of our country’s most acclaimed as well as less noted filmmakers. And commercial success doesn’t seem to have factored into our voters’ minds, with films like Hard Core Logo (#4), Last Night (#9) and Cube (#15) having garnered less than $500,000 in Canadian box office and others like Le Decline de l’empire americain (#10) having grossed an impressive $3.6 million in 1986 – the equivalent of roughly $8 million with today’s theatre admission rates.

Fortunately, our readers – the industry – can see beyond a Canadian film’s market value, which worked well for the purposes of our list. But in the bigger scheme of things, it’s not just the mainstream media that seldom see the filmic value in undernourished Canadian movies, the general public is virtually oblivious to it – except, again, during the festival.

And if that doesn’t change soon, some of Canada’s most successful filmmakers believe the end could be near for our domestic industry.

‘It’s a do-or-die time for those involved in making Canadian films,’ says uberproducer Robert Lantos in a one-on-one interview with Playback (See Perspective, p. 1). He believes that domestic B.O. success is attainable for Canadian films, as it has been in the past and with one or two movies a year, but he says if we don’t start seeing our movies take at least a 5% share of the market within the next five years or so, it’s time to throw in the towel on public funding.

Fearing the ‘Americanization of global cinema,’ Canada’s master of macabre David Cronenberg is in strong support of a screen quota system for Canadian film. ‘If you have any sense of national pride, identity and independence from the American dollar, government protection and interference are definitely required. [Otherwise], the American machine will just run over everybody, and that day is fast approaching,’ he warns Playback (see story, p. T-6).

Well, whatever ails Canadian film and whatever drastic measures need to be taken to save our domestic industry, one thing remains: TIFF has achieved market dominance on the festival circuit and remains the preeminent launching pad for indie films around the world, whatever their fate.