A meditation on fate has earned Montreal animator Torill Kove her second Academy Award nomination. The best animated short nom comes for her 15-minute The Danish Poet, inspired by her parents’ own story of a chance encounter. The film is a copro between the National Film Board (Marcy Page) and Norway’s Mikrofilm AS (Lise Fearnley).

Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly, Toronto

Vancouver’s Insight Film Studios is hoping for a 24-sized hit with Painkiller Jane, a new sci-fi series that began shooting a 22-episode season in November.

Montreal: The lifetime achievement award at this year’s Prix Jutra will go to Pierre Curzi, the veteran Quebec actor known for his appearances in over 50 movies and TV shows including the 1977 miniseries Duplessis and Roméo et Juliette, the Shakespearean adaptation that now lords over the Quebec box office.

Toronto – When Howie Mandell returned to Canada this month, he was back for more than a family visit.

Goldberg takes on Short subject

Montreal – Prom Wars, a teen sex comedy about two boys schools battling for the attention of a girls school, is going to stand out from the other recent entries in its genre, according to Brandi-Ann Milbradt of Montreal’s Philms Pictures.

Kevin Tierney has certainly received some stellar publicity this year. Bon Cop, Bad Cop, which he cowrote and produced, has taken the crown as the most successful Canadian film ever at the domestic box office. As of Nov. 23, it had grossed $12.2 million, surpassing the long-standing record of 1982’s Porky’s ($11.2 million).

On Dec. 17, Jacques Bensimon will walk out the front door of the National Film Board’s offices in Montreal, ending a five-year run as commissioner during which he – and, he is quick to remind, his staff and colleagues – have pulled the dear old board back from the brink of oblivion.

Asked for his favorite National Film Board movies made during his time as commissioner, Jacques Bensimon had a long list. These were the first 10.

A sequel to Bon Cop, Bad Cop is ‘stupidly inevitable’ given its runaway success and could go forward if cast and crew can find the time, according to producer Kevin Tierney.

Montreal: The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma enjoyed a 38% boost in attendance and favorable reviews this year, which founder and director Claude Chamberlan is crediting to its lineup.