(Canada, 1999)
  From the coast of Cape Breton comes a whimsical comedy that delighted last year's Festival audiences and was awarded special citations at both Cinefest Sudbury and the Toronto International Film Festival. Under the adept direction of Allan Moyle (Pump Up the Volume), exciting newcomer Liane Balaban plays Moonie Pottie, an eccentric 15-year-old bookworm, who yearns to escape the cramped little Catholic community of bleak New Waterford to pursue adventure in New York City. Her teacher (Andrew McCarthy), also a loner, sees in Moonie the makings of an artist and arranges a scholarship for her to attend an arts school in Manhattan, but her hopes are dashed when her parents (played by Mary Walsh and Nicholas Campbell), refuse to let her go. Events turn when spunky 16-year-old Lou (Tara Spencer-Nairn) and her sexy Latin teacher mom (Cathy Moriarty, Mambo Kings) move in next door. Moonie and Lou team up to hatch a daring plan for Moonie to escape to New York.

"Balaban is a remarkably concentrated actor with a mercurial intelligence, a quick tongue, and an ability to communicate what's left unsaid." -- Amy Taubin, The Village Voice

"A small comic gem graced with excellent casting, evocative writing and direction that makes the commonplace seem wonderful." -- Toronto Star

(UK, 1999)
  Based upon Ayub Knah-Din's hit Royal Court play, East is East follows the adventures of George Khan (Om Puri, My Son the Fanatic) an immigrant who finds himself caught up in dramatic and comedic contradictions trying to raise his Pakistani family in an English fish 'n' chip shop. Set in Manchester in the early seventies, bombastic George works side-by-side with his British wife Ella (Linda Basset, Beautiful People) as they raise their seven unruly children. On one hand, George loudly defends and promotes his Muslim beliefs, maintaining the customs and values of the old country. On the other hand, he has left a Muslim wife in Pakistan, embraced England as his new home and erratically juggles the two cultures. Parental control slips away as he suddenly discovers that his youngest son has somehow escaped circumcision. Humiliated but undaunted when his oldest son flees his arranged marriage mid-ceremony, George moves on to tackle matrimony for his second and third sons. However, while George throws himself into matchmaking, he is oblivious to the fact that one of his sons is in love with a blonde girl with a racist father, a great admirer of Enoch Powell, the anti-immigration figure head. Damien O'Donnel, in his directorial debut, wins audiences over with his delightful comedy of culture clashes.

"Puri and Bassett are brilliant performers, brilliantly matched, and their scenes together are both sexy and touching." -- Film Journal International

(UK, 1999)
  Trainspotting meets Annie Hall for the next generation ... Human Traffic follows five twentysomething friends on a druggy lost weekend in Cardiff's underworld rave and club culture. Hating their jobs, resenting unpromising futures, the working class 'slackers' are buoyed by their plans for a chemical rush on the upcoming weekend. Jip (John Sim), a junior stock boy by trade, struggles with impotency problems; Nina wants to quit her job at a McBurger shop; Koop, a wannabe club disc jockey, goes out with Nina; Muff, a 'pill monster' and son of a cop, is reaching chemical limit; and Lulu is a blonde beauty whose long-time friendship with Jip is on the verge of becoming a sexual attraction. Jip talks their way into Cardiff's hottest club and they cut loose in a world of music, sex and voracious amounts of Ecstasy. The pulse of an unrelenting soundtrack of techno, dub and ambient music drives the film featuring the talents of Fat Boy Slim, Underworld and Primal Scream.

"Human Traffic is the only feature to authentically capture the euphoria and camaraderie of British rave culture." * * * * -- Jason Anderson, eyeWEEKLY

"A blast!" -- Now Weekly

(Iran, English subtitles)
  Director Majidi Majidi (Children of Heaven) returns to his talent for exploring stories centred on children's experiences. The film tells the story of a blind eight-year-old boy named Mohammad (Mohsen Ramezani, who is blind in real life) and his relationship with his widowed father, Hashem (Hossein Mahnumb). Hashem, bitter with the hand life has dealt him, schemes to rid himself of his blind son and remarry a young woman from a strict religious family. Thrown into an apprenticeship with a blind carpenter, Mohammad begins to succeed in his new life only to meet disaster at the hands of his father's selfishness and anger. Although gifted with sight, Hashem's narrowness of vision causes grave suffering while his son views nothing, but sees what is important. Majidi opens an intriguing window into a world that is usually closed to North Americans and, in the process, offers his most engrossing film to date.

"Fiercely gratifying." -- Now Weekly

(Canada, 1999)
  A special presentation at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, Ron Mann's much anticipated documentary provides a highly entertaining look a the origins of marijuana in the United States, and a cheeky glimpse at America's overblown propaganda war against the 'demon weed.' The film follows the sometimes overzealous operations of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from its early campaign against the smuggling activities of Mexican workers to the present day. The relentless federal crusade heats up in the thirties when the Major of New York City commissions the first real study of the effects of marijuana, and the startling results dispute government claims that 'if you smoke it, you will go insane.' Mann's expansive style and wit richly entertain, and his lively use of rare archival material is worth the price of admission.

* * * * -- Tom Lyons, eyeWEEKLY

(Spain; English subtitles)
  Set in the 1930s on the brink of the Spanish Civil War, Butterfly explores an extraordinary relationship between a shy young boy, Moncho, and his compassionate teacher, Don Gregorio. In the tradition of Cinema Paradiso, Moncho and Don Gregorio form a heartwarming bond which fortifies and prepares young Moncho for his entry in this increasingly frightening world. Their world is shaken when civil war erupts, and the boy and his hero brace themselves for the trauatic surprises that lay ahead. A tale that is destined to touch every heart on an extraordinary level.

(U.K., 1999)
  This delightful, big-hearted comic tale was the winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Academy Award winner Blenda Blethyn (Little Voice) shines in the tittle role of Grace, who finds out that her husband has fallen from an airplane without a parachute. While sorting out the estate, Grace discovers to her horror that her late husband was involved in various ill-fated, get-rich-quick schemes and has left behind huge debts. If Grace doesn't raise £300,000 in due time, she will lose her manor to creditors. Scrambling to find a way out of her seemingly hopeless predicament, she turns to her unemployed Scottish caretaker (Craig Ferguson, The Big Tease) who concocts an unexpected but inspired plan. To raise the money, the unlikely pair transform Grace's orchid house into an indoor marijuana plantation and go into the "grass" business on a massive scale. Critical to the success of their plan is maintaining the secrecy of their illegal operation in the face of prying neighbours and local authorities. Saving Grace has the spirit and tone of the indie hit The Full Monty and Blethyn offers a gut-splitting tour-de-force as the garden-club Grace who finds herself thrust into a world of nefarious drug lords.

"A spriritedly daft and droll gem of straight-faced lunacy." -- Variety