Over the past few days, milling around the theatres, on Bay Street around Sutton Place, and at the various swanky joints hosting festival soirees, I've had the great pleasure of bumping into many of this year's Canadian filmmakers - coffee or booze in hand, depending on the hour - all in various shades of anticipation, trepidation, euphoria and excitement. Their films have been about to screen, or were screening to the hard-to-read industry audiences, or screened to standing ovation and great Q&A sessions. The filmmaker's psyche can be a fragile thing, and no wonder - after months of seclusion and engaging in the intimate act of art-making, crafting, honing and perfecting their films, they've had to give up all control and throw their babies into the very public fray that is TIFF. 

So far the babies have been faring so well, and with good reason - these are really amazing films and it's been such a great privilege to be able to pass on so much good will and high praise to talented people who made them. Some personal highlights so far:

 5 Dysfunctional People in a Car - a short directed by Pat Mills, an amazingly talented director who tells stories straight from his heart and soul. The short screens in front of Blaine Thurier's A Gun to the Head, a film you definitely don't want to miss. 

 Passenger Side - written and directed by Matt Bissonette, has that magic combo of great storytelling and a stunning frame through which to go on this very poignant - and whip smart - ride. Matt has a gift for writing real people and plunging his audience into the environments that trap, liberate and create his multi-dimensional characters. 

 Carcasses - Denis Cote's quasi doc is an incredible reminder that truth is fiction, fiction is truth, and that none of that matters when standing in the fact of truly unique vision. Mesmerizing.

Very much looking forward to: Jamie Travis's The Armoire, the newest short by this brilliant and unstoppable filmmaker; the zany Machotaildrop, which I hear can't be missed; J'ai tue ma mere, the already-award winning film by wunderkid Xavier Nolan; La Donation, the third film in the stunning, elegiac trilogy by Bernard Emond, and High Life, Gary Yates newest.