Have been swamped with prep for MM following the fantastic Fest of Fear where I was shaking hands and kissing babies all weekend. Okay, maybe I was kissing hands and shaking babies, but we got to get tickets into the hands of some excited MM fans! Been getting in some more memories of MM from our alumni and this one comes from France with a recollection by SHEITAN director Kim Chapiron who even edited together a clip reel, highlighting his trip! And ladies, watch out - sounds like he will be back in town hanging out with his buddy Vincent Cassel who stars in David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES!


As far as screenings of my first feature "Sheitan" go, I thought I had seen it all until the closing night of 2006 Toronto's film festival.

My producer/actor, Vincent Cassel, and I had just came back from Moscow for the Russian theatrical release. Wow!!!! We had never encountered such a receptive audience. Among the gorgeous Slavic courtesans and ruthless Chechen mobsters, I truly felt I was in a movie watching my movie dubbed in Russian.

Prior to this ludicrous experience, we visited Havana for Sheitan's premiere there. Since Castro strongly emphasizes culturally educating his own people, going to the movies is almost free (10 cents) for Cubanos. Beautifully diverse spectators gathered in this fifties- looking movie theatre to enjoy this psychedelic ride. During the screening, muchachos and muchachas reacted in such a caliente manner that one half expected them to get up and start dancing the rumba.

When I got to Toronto, I hadn't even dropped my bags at the hotel when Vincent Cassel called and informed me that he would not be able to attend the festival. Bummer!!! I was on my own and I had to make a speech in front of the craziest audience possible from what I had heard, all on the very last film of the Festival in Midnight Madness. Not to mention that Borat had opened the film festival and had made a memorable impression. He and his mule were hauled by three female gypsies on the red carpet. The pressure was on, but once I set foot in the giant theatre and saw that the spectators were all tripping and rolling, I said to myself: "This feels like home."

Hands down, Toronto is the crème de la crème of all audiences. Thanks Colin.

KIM CHAPIRON