Emmanuel Bilodeau (Maman Last Call) stars in the 3 x 120 Ciné Télé Action miniseries Réne Lévesque, which airs Sept. 7, 14 and 21 on CBC. Bilodeau plays the chain-smoking former Quebec premier, covering his career as a TV journalist in the 1950s through to his part in founding the Parti Québécois and his constant battles with Pierre Trudeau. The cast also includes Pascale Bussières, Lucie Laurier and Marie Tifo.

The main challenge for the 31st annual Toronto International Film Festival (Sept. 7-16), with regards to its Canadian movie contingent, is how to drum up sufficient public interest despite the absence of the country’s top-name directors.

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Despite a potentially record-breaking box office in Quebec, the bilingual buddy movie Bon Cop, Bad Cop has so far failed to arrest audiences in the rest of Canada.

The National Film Board, in partnership with Toronto home video distributor Koch Vision, is releasing a seven-disc boxed set dedicated to the late Norman McLaren on Sept. 5, in time for the influential animator’s touring retrospective to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Toronto International Film Festival has programmed many films with unique visions of Canada in its previous 30 years, but possibly none as epic and dramatic as The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, this year’s opening night gala presentation.

The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period Aug. 18-24, 2006 and DVD sales in Canada for the period Aug. 7-13, 2006.

Whistler has ended its first run down the slopes, perhaps fittingly, at a low point. The soapy ski drama ended its first season with an average of 402,000 viewers – not bad, considering it was bounced around the CTV schedule near the end of its 13-ep run, but not great considering its sizable budget and marketing push.

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Top 20 TV Programs tracks ratings for the top 20 television shows in Canada for the period Aug. 21-27, 2006.

The 2006 edition of the ever-expanding Atlantic Film Festival looks to be the largest ever – and will put new titles by Sarah Polley and Michael Mabbott on the big screen while playing matchmaker with filmmakers from Australia, South Africa and other territories.