Looking for some intelligent counter-programming to the hype-filled American-Idol-for-filmmakers beauty pageant of On the Lot? TIFFGroup has the answer: the real next generation of filmmakers, up on the big screen at the Cumberland.

The program is called the Student Film Showcase, and it will be screening eleven of the best student short films from the member schools of the Film School Consortium. (Ryerson, York, OCAD, Sheridan, Humber, and U of T are all part of the enclave.)

The Torontonian offerings taking part in the screening tonight are Alex Heaslip and Ryan Cavan's The Bumblebee Man (produced at Humber), Raha Shirazi's Four Walls (York), Trevor Jiminez's Key Lime Pie (Sheridan), and Dylan Spencer's Smokestack (Ryerson). The rest of the flicks come from the rest of the country, adding yet another page to the age-old debate about where Hollywood North truly lies.

The programme is juried, and this year's grand prize winner will win a thousand bucks' worth of services from Technicolour, along with an absolutely invaluable 35mm DI output of their work - which would give the filmmaker the opportunity to send the film to the most prestigious festivals in the world. They also (naturally) get an industry pass to this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Tickets will run you $5 and are available at the TIFF box office (Manulife Centre) and at the Cumberland. The screening starts at 7:00 tonight.