An officer of the Order of Canada and a Knight of the National Order of Quebec, the man for whom The Harold Greenberg Fund is named was a passionate Canadian cultural figure with a larger-than-life personality.

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Having hosted 306 movies and more than 130,000 moviegoers, including its one-millionth all-time attendee, the 2005 edition of the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam wrapped a successful 11-day run on Dec. 2.

A contingent of Canadian nonfiction producers and broadcasters made the trip to the Netherlands late last month for the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam.

Oscar-winning animator Derek Lamb died on Nov. 5 of cancer at a friend’s house in Washington State, reportedly with wife Tracie Smart by his side. He was 68.

Maria Topalovich, like Sergeant Pepper, can easily cast her mind back to a memorable date two decades ago.

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‘You never want to lose,’ exclaimed a happy Jerry Ciccoritti after picking up the prize for directing the CTV miniseries Lives of the Saints at the Directors Guild of Canada Awards ceremony in Toronto Oct. 1.

Atom Egoyan has a reputation as a cool, cerebral figure. But the truth is that he’s passionate about many things – among them censorship. That’s why his tussle with the Motion Picture Association of America over Where the Truth Lies rankles so much.

Mixing film veterans with young talent is a signature strategy for the Toronto International Film Festival and, again this year, director of industry initiatives Kelley Alexander and her team are running panel discussions, mentoring and pitch sessions to further the growth of the next generation of Canadian filmmakers.

Where the Truth Lies, directed by Atom Egoyan and produced by Robert Lantos, is, at press time, facing a potentially harsh ratings decision from the Motion Picture Association of America. The sexy thriller, which premiered at Cannes and will launch in North America as a TIFF gala, could see its commercial hopes seriously undermined in the U.S. if the MPAA sticks to its plan to slap the film with an NC-17 rating (no one 17-and-under admitted). If that happens, distributor ThinkFilm would launch an appeal. Canadian audiences, however, will be able to see the director’s cut at TIFF and in its commercial R-rated release, set for Oct. 7.

‘Everything Old Is New Again’ should be the tune on the lips of filmmakers DonOwen and Michel Brault. These two pioneers of Canadian filmmaking will have their first features revived at TIFF 2005. New 35mm prints of Brault’s Entre la mer et l’eau douce (Between Sweet and Salt Water) and Owen’s Nobody Waved Goodbye have been struck and TIFF will be the first to screen them.

Shivers (1975)