Submissions to Perspective Canada hit a record in 1998 at 366 entries (89 features, 277 shorts), up from 284 (81 features, 203 shorts) the previous year. Of the submissions, Ontario accounted for half, 183, followed by Quebec (79), British Columbia (56), Manitoba (9), Nova Scotia (8), Alberta (7), Saskatchewan (4) and New Brunswick and Newfoundland (3 each). Ten hailed from the u.s. and four from other countries.

This crop of Canadian films has been pared down to a total of 62 films which will begin unspooling with Don McKellar’s feature film directorial debut Last Night (shown on front), the Sept. 10 opening night film. Over the following eight days, 19 more Canadian features and 42 short films will be screened in Perspective Canada, 10 of which are world premieres.

The lineup includes 10 feature directorial debuts, up from eight in ’97, and 30 returning filmmakers in both features and shorts, compared to 26 the previous year.

Returning talent includes Bruce Sweeney with his Live Bait follow-up Dirty, Peter Lynch of Project Grizzly fame with The Herd, Gemini Award-winning Jerry Ciccoritti with Boy Meets Girl, Jean Pierre Lefebvre and Aujourd’hui ou jamais and Robert Lepage, No.

Among the newcomers are Chris Grismer and his Canadian Film Centre production Clutch, John Kalangis with Jack and Jill, executive produced by Atom Egoyan, and John Doyle with Extraordinary Visitor, the only film from the East Coast represented in the program.

Broken down regionally, the ’98 program represents eight filmmakers from Ontario, seven from Quebec, four from b.c. and one from Newfoundland.

In addition to the Perspective Canada lineup, an additional eight Canadian films are being screened as galas and special presentations. They include Francois Girard’s The Red Violin; Sturla Gunnarsson’s Such A Long Journey; Bruce McCulloch’s Dog Park; Un 32 Aout Sur Terre, the solo feature directorial effort from Denis Villeneuve, a contributor to last year’s festival hit Cosmos; Paul Quinn’s This Is My Father; Summer of the Monkeys, directed by Michael Anderson and a re-release of Don Shebib’s 1970 classic Goin’ Down the Road.