What are some of the highlights for Canadian films at this year’s TIFF?

There area lot of great debuts and films from emerging directors and a lot of veterans who have made significant steps forward. Also, for some reason, I don't know why, there are a lot of movies about children and childhood. Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the large percentage of films by women directors we're showcasing this year.

Is there a film that you’re particularly excited to see the audience reaction to? Are there any surprises amongst the Canadian film submissions this year?

We're excited about seeing the reactions to all of them, but in particular Philippe Falardeau's movie, C'EST PAS MOI, JE LE JURE!. Falardeau is one of our finest filmmakers and this is his funniest and most accessible piece to date. It's a story about this hellion pre-teen who spends most of his time committing various acts of vandalism set in a 1960s suburb. Also Deepa Mehta's film HEAVEN ON EARTH is extremely powerful. Bruce McDonald's PONTYPOOL is a radical re-working of the zombie movie with a brilliant performance by Stephen McHattie which will surprise people.

We're screening one unsolicited film, UNDER RICH EARTH, a great new documentary about a controversy about land claims in Ecuador which completely came in from left field. We'd never heard of the filmmaker Malcolm Rogge. And we're kind of proud of our tracking system.

You must have gotten many submission across Canada - it’s a difficult task narrowing them all down and choosing just a small number. What criteria did you use to choose the films?

We don't have specific criteria. We try to look at a film according to the objectives it sets for itself. Obviously, we look at craftsmanship, performances, new approaches or different takes on a subject matter, stuff that's innovative or new. We do try to be as representational as we can, but ultimately quality is the bottom line.

Is there a predominant genre that Canadian film submissions tend to fall into? Say: Drama, comedy...horror? Or is it all over the place?

All over the place would pretty much cover it. Our filmmakers are quite adept across the board. We have wild comedies like Warren P. Sonoda's COOPER'S CAMERA, which stars Samantha Bee and Jason Jones from The Daily Show and Cameron Labine's CONTROL ALT DELETE; we have lovely intimate dramas like Ingrid Veninger and Simon Reynold's ONLY and Charles Officer's NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY; groundbreaking beautiful stuff like BEFORE TOMORROW which compares well with films like FAST RUNNER. We have an exquisite atmospheric piece from Quebec called DERRIERE MOI, from a young filmmaker named Rafael Ouellet, which is kind of unclassifiable.

Are you seeing more or less Canadian films taking part in the festival?

It's about the same. We normally show close to 30 feature length titles. that's a number that works fairly well. Over the last couple years there have been more Canadian films in the Gala section, which is great.

Can you speak a bit about Passchendaele and what it’s like to have this film be the opening gala film? It’s a huge honour!

PASSCHENDAELE is one of the biggest most ambitious movies ever made in Western Canada, in English Canada really. We don't typically celebrate our achievements here. We shy away from acknowledging our grander heroic acts, as if we were embarrassed by them, and that's a genuine shame. This movie, courageously I think, flies in the face of that tradition.

This movie has struck a real chord with people. I got a call from the heritage officer from an army base up north asking where his regiment could get tickets. It was kind of cool.

Seems like the opening film for the festival tends to be Canadian each year... Can you speak a bit to that?

We always open with Canadian films. I've been here since 1995 and the only time we didn't open with a Canadian film was in 1996, when we opened with FLY AWAY HOME, which is about a very Canadian story. We're very proud of the fact that we have dedicated this key spot to spotlighting Canadian work, and it's been a principle that the entire organization has been behind.

This year's Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept 4-13. The festival opens and closes with two Canadian films: Paul Gross' PASSCHENDAELE and Charles Martin Smith's STONE OF DESTINY. For more information on the festival and films, visit: http://www.tiff08.ca/