Rhombus Media is heading into perhaps the most crucial time in its near 20-year history as it attempts to navigate u.s. distribution sales for its two films slotted in high-profile spots at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The highly anticipated The Red Violin, cowritten and directed by Francois Girard, has been selected to open both the Toronto and Venice film festivals, while Don McKellar’s directorial debut Last Night will open Toronto’s Perspective Canada series.

u.s. rights to both films are open and Rhombus is now faced with the delicate task of not only making u.s. distribution sales but potentially having to decide when to do so.

‘We’re nervous as hell,’ concedes Rhombus producer and cofounder Niv Fichman, who says there are advantages to both making a sale before the festival and waiting to do a deal after festival exposure has created positive buzz.

‘As far as long-term benefit to the film, it would be really great to go into both these festivals with a u.s. distributor in hand,’ says Fichman, speaking specifically about The Red Violin. ‘With a deal in place, a u.s. distributor can deal with the publicity and press for the film at quite a different level than we could.’

On the other hand, Fichman knows that with the Samuel L. Jackson starrer, Rhombus is holding a valuable property that he says is unlike any other Canadian film ever made. A good u.s. deal could propel the film to a much higher reach than even Rhombus’ most successful feature to date, Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould, also directed by Girard and cowritten with McKellar.

The Red Violin is a $14-million epic that follows a violin across various continents and centuries. It was coproduced with Italy’s Mikado Films as a Canada/Italy coproduction. Rhombus holds u.s. rights and will negotiate a sale along with the film’s u.k. distributor Channel 4.

‘The Red Violin has been highly watched and tracked by the most prominent independent distributors in the States,’ says Fichman, who confirms that both Miramax and New Line/Fine Line as well as others have expressed interest in the film. ‘It’s really important to us that everyone gets to see it properly and evaluate it and see if it’s right for them.’

Riding on positive exposure at tiff, Robert Duvall’s The Apostle was sold to October Films for $6 million after a reported bidding war between the u.s. mini-majors.

Incorporating five languages into the film, The Red Violin is undoubtedly less commercial than Duvall’s directorial debut but still holds wide appeal.

‘I think it’s definitely strong and it’s unlike any other Canadian film that you’ve seen,’ says Fichman. ‘It’s a world story that culminates in Canada, and I guess that it has a Canadian sensibility in the sense that it’s about all these other cultures and that’s what we are.

‘It would be pretty hard for any film other than a Canadian one to be in five languages.’

But for now, it appears that Rhombus is weighing both scenarios carefully, having not decided – or not received – the offer it wants.

‘I think we’re in a really good position to make a significant deal, so for the moment we’re thinking it may be best to wait,’ says Fichman. ‘If the two philosophies can meet, I think it’s great, but if they don’t, I think it’s important for us and whoever ends up distributing it to be happy about the deal that we make.’

Both The Red Violin and Cannes Director’s Fortnight selection Last Night will be distributed in Canada by Odeon Films, in the u.k. by Channel 4, and in Italy by Mikado Films.

While he doesn’t rule it out, Fichman says that bundling the films together as a package deal for a u.s. distributor is something that isn’t being strongly considered.

Although Rhombus doesn’t have a slew of features in development to pitch and secure financing for while the company is the focus of so much attention at Toronto and Venice, one project that will most likely make the rounds is a feature biopic on Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, being developed by Rhombus principal Larry Weinstein.

Weinstein is best known for his work directing and producing documentary films on classical composers for Rhombus.

Once again, Mikado is involved in the potential coproduction, which will document the life of this century’s most famous conductor.

In regards to The Red Violin being allowed to open both the Venice and Toronto festivals, Fichman says that while the film had been invited to open Toronto before it got the invitation for Venice, tiff director Piers Handling instructed Rhombus that ‘whatever they thought was good for the film would be good for the festival too.’