It was a fun time in Toronto at the film fest. Thanks to Bern, Deana and Michelle for orchestrating the Festival. At the screening Friday at 5:30 there was a good crowd , attendance was 2/3 of the room at the Carlton Cinema. Lots of people I knew did show. Plus some Greek media incl camera and crew from the Greek program at OMNI TV. Film was very well received . There was a Q&A directly after the screening in the theatre and then I whipped out the guitar and belted out a chinese song going from row to row with the camera in tow. Fun for all it seemed. At the awards ceremony on Sunday night – last night – at the Alto Baso bar (on College near Grace) the film won a ‘special jury prize’. It was fun hanging out with film people, producers , directors and starlets. Saw a series of ‘shorts’ Sunday afternoon – half a dozen short films averaging about 10 minutes in length – great. Among films I really liked were ‘the interview’ and the feature ‘pure’. The delta chelsea hotel was nice , comfy and big – 3 sets of different colored elevators – mine was green – life can get complicated. Lots of americans visiting – golly geez! Met a black couple from Michael Moore’s home town of Flint, Michigan – the woman righteously claimed her own son was the tv star of a local sitcom and so I was to know and anyone else listening that there were 2 famous people from Flint. ok I accepted that . wow getting into Toronto from Ottawa – suddenly there’s an excitement in the air ! its like arriving in NYC from Halifax, now here’s a city – Toronto – thats got presence, not too clean , has grime, has girth , doesn’t monkey around , has architecture , and weight. Gotta watchout.

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Special Jury Prizes
This year’s special jury prize for Achievement in Acting was presented to LOVE IS WORK, written and directed by Johnny Kalangis and starring Shauna MacDonald, Fabrizio Filippo, Kathryn Zenna, Ryan McVittie, and Natalie Radford. The Achievement in Cinematography prize was presented to the feature film PURE, directed by Jim Donovan and written by Eugene Garcia. The documentary film CHAIRMAN GEORGE was touted as a moving and inspiring film and received an honorable mention by the jury.