Montreal’s troubled World Film Festival wrapped on Sept. 4, ending its 12-day 30th edition with generally favorable reviews from industry attendees and local press, despite having gone a second year without funding from Telefilm Canada or SODEC.

Cowboy Cool – a mini program of oddball westerns including 1973’s Westworld (above) – plays at the Calgary International Film Festival, which returns for its third year Sept. 22 to Oct 1. See also www.calgaryfilm.com

BGM deal complete

Silent Hill is continuing to make noise, this time in homes, where it has earned some US$11 million from the rental market since its Aug. 22 release on DVD – placing high on charts at Nielsen, Rogers and Blockbuster.

The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period Sept. 1-7, 2006 and DVD sales in Canada for the period Aug. 21-27, 2006.

CBC’s fall season got off to a dismal start on Sept. 7 when the first of the three-part miniseries René Lévesque, about the late Quebec separatist leader, premiered to a weak 158,000 viewers, losing the highly competitive slot to reruns of Grey’s Anatomy and CSI on CTV and My Name Is Earl on Global.

Top 20 TV Programs tracks ratings for the top 20 television shows in Canada for the period Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2006.

Right on schedule, business at the Toronto International Film Festival picked up around the halfway mark – with Lionsgate Films acquiring the U.S. rights for Sarah Polley’s critically acclaimed drama Away from Her, and its Canadian subsidiary Maple Pictures landing the Canuck rights to the highly contentious Death of a President. Meanwhile, TVA Films scooped the CGI Ugly Duckling and Me, a copro from Ireland, Denmark, France and Germany.

Joan Donaldson 1946-2006

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen: The follow-up feature from Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn is described by critics as both a ‘brave’ and ‘curious’ choice for the TIFF gala opener. Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star says the Inuit epic is accomplished and intelligent, but as a result of its slow pace, definitely not a crowd-pleaser. ‘Admirers of Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner may have to brace themselves for a mild disappointment,’ agrees the Globe and Mail, calling it a good, but not a great movie. On the other hand, Jason Anderson with Eye Weekly gives it four stars, noting the film is a ‘richer work of art’ than its predecessor, while NOW Magazine agrees there’s no denying its hypnotic pull.

In response to a recent online Playback poll question asking ‘Which of the following films is most likely to make noise at TIFF?’, the favorite was The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, with 28% of the votes. This was followed by Everything’s Gone Green with 22%, Away from Her with 20%, Fido with 17%, Congorama with 9%, and Brand Upon the Brain! with 4%.

For many who attend the Toronto International Film Festival, there is a single event or film that seems to crystallize the experience for them or best illustrate where the film biz is at.