Ararat marks Atom Egoyan’s third consecutive film to open the Toronto International Film Festival. The drama premiered at Cannes – out of competition, by the director’s request – and has stirred up a hornet’s nest of international debate. Written and directed by Egoyan, the film, named after a dormant volcano in Turkey, tells the story of a contemporary director struggling with the production of a movie about the Armenian Genocide.

Lions Gate among Bridge Studios bidders

So it’s that time of year again when media outlets across the land set their sights on the indie film circuit via the Toronto International Film Festival, and in many cases even rally to the cause of Canadian film – an admittedly unsexy subject for the other 11 months of the year, but who’s counting?

Staunchly Canuck filmmaker David Cronenberg supports the idea of regulating the number of domestic productions showing on Canadian screens, as is commonly done around the world.

The Directors Guild of Canada will mark its forthcoming 40th anniversary with a new awards show – handing out trophies for above-par directing, production design and editing among its 3,700 members. DGC president Alan Goluboff and director David Cronenberg laid out plans and announced the nominees for the first annual DGC Awards, to be held at Toronto’s Boulevard Club on Oct. 5 and hosted by former Kids in the Hall star Dave Foley, at a recent press conference.

The Canadian Television Fund has announced Sandra Macdonald as its new president and CEO.

* Alliance Atlantis Communications has announced three promotions within its Broadcast Group.

Vancouver: Checkbox #24: Expand financial management skills of industry. Checkbox #5: Streamline tax policy administration and application processes. Checkbox #20: Enhance regional bonus on tax polices to promote increased production beyond the Lower Mainland. Checkbox #14: Work with communities to ensure that producers have quick, easy and reliable access to locations. Checkbox #29: Mount PR campaign to foster greater understanding and support of industry regionally, provincially and nationally.

Sharp marketing has been a cornerstone in the rise of the Toronto International Film Festival from a mid-level alternative player to one of the major stops on the festival calendar. In the last decade alone, TIFF has evolved into a bona fide brand that would make the top brass at Coca-Cola or McDonald’s proud.

Reality might seem to be a liability at the Toronto International Film Festival, an international showcase for dramatic features. But the festival has long invited Canadian documentary makers into the tent, and this year is featuring five feature-length documentaries and a handful of homegrown shorts in its Perspective Canada series.

You may not be able to make a living off short films, but filmmakers traditionally use them to springboard into long form and to experiment with style and content. And while still falling behind Europe in terms of appreciating and providing a market for short films, Canada is beginning to recognize them as a unique and valuable art form.

Montreal: In Canadian distribution news, Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm reports Ricardo Trogi’s road movie comedy Quebec-Montreal has earned just over $500,000 at the box office since its Aug. 2 release on 40 screens. AAV also reports the Denise Filiatrault family satire L’Odyssee d’Alice Tremblay has surpassed the $2-million mark after nine weeks in Quebec theatres. It’s an especially strong showing as 40% of admissions has been for children at reduced ticket prices.

Following are highlights of this year’s Prix Gemeaux finalist list in selected categories. For the full list of nominees, check out the ACCT website at www.academy.ca.

Montreal: It has been nothing short of a battle for survival for this year’s 17th edition of the Prix Gemeaux. The awards showcase – dedicated to honoring excellence in French-language television – has been the target of a blistering partisan attack from a small but select group of powerful and disgruntled producers, their friends in the media and conventional private-sector broadcasters.

Toronto hosts what is considered the second-largest film festival in the world, but for Canadian filmmakers, the paradox of TIFF is the odds against homegrown talent finding and winning over buyers in what sometimes seems like a Turkish bazaar.