Montreal: A father and son take the daughter of a Mafia don hostage in Le Génie du crime – a dark crime drama that reunites director Louis Bélanger and cinematographer Jean-Pierre St-Louis of Gaz Bar Blues.

The video game-inspired feature Silent Hill ruled the box office over the April 21-23 weekend, bringing in US$20.2 million from theaters across North America, besting the horror spoof Scary Movie 4 and the debut of the 20th Century Fox thriller The Sentinel.
In Canada, Silent Hill grossed $1.8 million for a per-screen average of $7,500 for distributor Odeon Films.

Thanks to piqued interest in the Rwandan genocide of the ’90s, along with heavy media coverage of its release, Un dimanche à Kigali, the war movie/romance starring Quebec heavyweight Luc Picard, brought in $166,478 over the April 21-23 weekend, bringing its three-week total to $583,524.

Quebec producers will explore how new technologies are creating both opportunities and dilemmas when the APFTQ holds its annual convention in Quebec City, May 10-12.

Montreal – Circle of Friends, an MOW coproduced by Montreal’s Incendo Productions, wraps on May 10 after four weeks in Montreal. The thriller stars Julie Benz (Satan’s School for Girls, Jawbreaker) as a woman who returns home to investigate the mysterious deaths of her childhood friends.

All that’s needed at the Toronto Documentary Forum is an idea for a film, lots of chutzpah and nerves of steel. Now in its seventh year, the TDF is based on the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam model of aspiring-filmmaker-meets-potential-broadcaster session, allowing creators to hone and polish their pitches – and even, in some cases, sell them.

If one word sums up the mix of films in this year’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival, it’s eclectic.
The cinematic menu this year features a healthy blend of socially and politically engaged documentary programming from all over the world, according to Sean Farnel, the fest’s new director of programming.

The Hot Docs board of directors has expanded with appointments from both the public and private sectors. National Film Board commissioner Jacques Bensimon and Cineplex Entertainment executive VP of film and marketing Michael Kennedy join the board, bringing its number to 15.

After seven years of development, Jeremy Podeswa is ‘thrilled’ to be finally making the page-to-screen adaptation of Anne Michaels’ award-winning novel Fugitive Pieces.

The folks behind the 13th annual Hot Docs are dealing with the kind of problems of which fest organizers dream.

Quebec pop star and filmmaker Dan Bigras (Le Ring interieur) opened at the top box-office spot among Canadian films with his gritty take on Montreal street life, La Rage de l’ange – pushing aside Beowulf & Grendel in the week of March 31 to April 6 with a take of $171,730 across Quebec, for a per-screen average of $6,605.

A Montreal distributor has successfully appealed a restrictive rating by the Ontario Film Review Board.