The 6th Hispano-American Film Festival, held in Toronto May 27 to June 1, wrapped with unofficial attendance numbers of over 7,500, up from around 6,000 patrons in 2002. The Montreal and Calgary HAFFs will run simultaneously June 12-15.

The 4th annual Canadian New Media Awards were presented during a gala ceremony at Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre on June 2. The swanky, well-attended event saw 12 Pixel awards handed out, but one big winner emerged from the evening.

Ted Kelterborn is a partner in the Toronto law firm of McMillan Binch LLP and a member of the firm’s KNOWlaw Group. This article was prepared with the assistance of Julie Beeton.

Brett Sullivan directed the sequel to Ginger Snaps, not Grant Harvey as reported in the May 26 Prairie Scene column. Harvey directed the Ginger Snaps prequel. It should also be noted that the prequel is being posted at Tattersall Casablanca and Medallion-PFA in Toronto, not at Calgary’s Joe Media Group.

While it’s been popular sport to bash Trina McQueen’s report Dramatic Choices since its release at the end of May, kudos to her for highlighting the need for a more concerted effort in the area of ‘audience building.’

In 1997 civil war broke out in Zaire and, fearing for his life, a young primatologist was forced to abandon his research station deep in the Lomako Forest. Jef Dupain had been in the troubled west African country for several years, studying the endangered bonobo ape – one of the most human-like and least understood of the great apes. As the nation, now called the Congo, tore itself to pieces, the fate of the apes remained a mystery until last November when Dupain and director Kenton Vaughan (The Devil You Know) made the long trip up the river, into the rainforest.
The resulting one-hour doc, Ghosts of Lomako, airs this fall on CBC’s The Nature of Things, via 90th Parallel Film and Television Productions.

The 11th annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival, held May 3-11, wrapped with a 20% increase in attendance and a 15% jump in box-office revenue, says the festival’s managing director Ellie Skrow.

Director of photography Pierre Gill admits to feeling uncomfortable at times while filming the two-part miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil, directed by Christian Duguay for Alliance Atlantis Communications and U.S. broadcaster CBS.

Not long ago, Pat Ferns, president and CEO of the Banff Television Foundation, looked into his crystal ball and saw a lot of long, worried faces.

Rick Mercer will wear almost as many hats at Banff as he does in the TV biz as a quadruple-threat writer, performer, producer and director. The funnyman will grace the Rocky Mountain town to participate in a master class, co-host the awards show and, most notably, receive a special award himself.

Frantic Films CEO and executive producer Jamie Brown has some advice for those who want to get ahead in the highly competitive film and TV business. And some won’t want to hear it.

Retired TV producer Jim Murray, best known for executive producing The Nature of Things, will be feted at Banff with ACTRA’s John Drainie Award for his contribution to broadcasting.