Biopic Capote is gaining serious Academy Award consideration following a slew of awards noms and a best actor win for Philip Seymour Hoffman (above) from the Golden Globes on Jan. 16. Vancouver’s Infinity Features was responsible for financing the US$7.5-million feature for MGM/United Artists/Sony Pictures Classics, with Infinity’s William Vince, Michael Ohoven and Dave Valleau sharing producer credit. Other accolades for the film, about the titular author’s experience writing the classic novel In Cold Blood, include a best film of 2005 citation from the National Society of Film Critics. The film was shot in wintry Winnipeg, which doubled for late 1950’s Kansas. Released in Canada through Mongrel Media, it has taken in US$13 million at the North American box office

Of the three comedy pilots that aired on CBC earlier this month, Rabbittown fared the best, bringing in 251,000 viewers on Jan. 3 at 9:30 p.m.

Hockey took center stage in Quebec cinemas for the fifth consecutive week, as Les Boys IV edged towards the $4-million mark after a strong Jan. 13-15 weekend take of $160,000 in 71 venues across la belle province. As of Jan. 12, Maurice Richard was a stride behind after seven weeks and more than $3.7 million, while Deepa Mehta’s holdout Water trickled down to 14 screens and third place after an impressive nine-week run, maintaining a strong per-screen average of $5,113.

On the off chance that anyone had forgotten about Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock, a pack of flightless waterfowl recently reminded us all that there’s still a surprisingly large and lucrative market out there for good documentaries.

Rhombus Media has confirmed that Silk, François Girard’s first feature since 1998’s The Red Violin, will begin shooting in early February in Japan.
The ambitious $26-million project is based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel of the same title, and will star Michael Pitt (The Dreamers, Last Days) and current It girl Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride & Prejudice). The production is an Italian/Canadian/Japanese copro to be distributed by New Line Cinema.

Montreal: Organizers of the New Montreal FilmFestival insist that their famously troubled fete has not been shut down, even though its recent make-or-break merger proposal with the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma has gone unanswered.

Autodesk seals deal

Feature docs have a new place to go on Jan. 24 with the debut of CBC Newsworld’s The Lens, a weekly series for indie nonfiction headed by commissioning editor Andrew Johnson and exec produced by Catherine Olsen. The opening lineup includes Lifelike (above) – a ‘hilarious and fascinating’ look at taxidermy by director Tally Abecassis – and the 2005 Hot Docs hit The Cross and Bones, by Paul Carriere. The Lens airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

Time to redefine ‘Canadian’

In the Jan. 9 article ‘The Jane Show, take two,’ the name of director Craig Pryce (15/Love, Dark Oracle) was misspelled.

It was initially surprising to learn that Montreal’s Christal Films would be the distributor to step up and give a release to Karla, the film maudit that has made headlines in this country for the better part of a year, right up until its Canadian release Jan. 20.

Writer/director Hubert Davis (Oscar-nominee Hardwood) and star A.J. Saudin on the set of Aruba, one of six Canadian shorts screening at this month’s Sundance Film Festival. Aruba – about the fantasy life of a tormented young boy – screens alongside the drama Le Rouge au sol, the doc Smudge, the animated shorts At the Quinte Hotel and Half a Man, and the experimental The Bleeding Heart of It.