A look at the news and events surrounding the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and a very quick look at one Canadian short film every day.

Day Two

I'm used to people stopping me on the street upon seeing my TIFF press pass and asking me about the celebrities that I've had the chance to see at the festival. However, over the last few days, the only questions I have been getting from strangers in our city so far have revolved around Paris Hilton sightings. With all the other celebs in town, I wonder what Toronto's Paris Hilton obsession says about our city...

That being said, I did run into Paris Hilton two days ago, and she seemed like she was a very pleasant young woman.

One of the things I love most about TIFF time is the amount of local filmmakers — those that are just starting out and want to share their work outside the festival framework — that congregate to not only learn from other Canadian filmmakers, but also make some great connections in the industry. I ran into Rick Skyler of UNEZEYES outside the Ryerson Theatre today and had a chance to see a quick demo-reel of some of his short films. He's just one of the talented young people that are creating excellent Canadian cinema, and who we can expect to see featured at the festival in a few years.

Turns out there was a fire drill during the Midnight Madness screening of Mother of Tears. Yeah, they 'tested' the fire alarm for three minutes during a screening where filmmakers were sitting in the crowd. Ouch.

If you're set on skipping on frosh week or work in order to do some celeb stalking, here are some of the big names that will be arriving in town today:

• Rebecca De Mornay
• Woody Harrelson
• Charlize Theron
• Andre 3000
• Manuela Velles
• Monica Bellucci
• Shekhar Kapur
• Clive Owen
• Geoffrey Rush
• Xavier Gens
• John Sayles
• Uma Thurman
• Emily Blunt
• Jason Bateman
• Allison Janney
• Tilda Swinton
• George Clooney
• Javier Bardem
• Alan Ball
• Laura Linney
• Sameera Reddy
• Helen Hunt

In addition to all the films that are featured on the schedule for today, there are also quite a few opening receptions for the various Future Projections installations that are happening across the city. The installations are all free and have extended runs during TIFF and beyond. Tonight's opening receptions include:

• Jeremy Shaw's Best Minds Part One at 7pm at Thrush Holmes Empire, 1093 Queen Street West.
• Darfur/Darfur at 8pm at Royal Ontario Museum, Bloor Street Plaza, 100 Queen's Park.
• Francesco Vezzoli's A True Hollywood Story at 8pm at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery at Harbourfront Centre, 231 Queen's Quay West.
• Ryan Sluggett's Tyranny at 8pm at YYZ Artists' Outlet, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 140.
• Wildflowers of Manitoba at 7pm at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, 952 Queen Street West.

Be sure to check out the installations over the next few days at various locations across the city.

And now, a short (100-word) look at a short:

Hirsute
As a person who abhorred math and science in high school, the set for A.J. Bond's trippy time-shifting short Hirsute freaks me out more than the surreal yet freakishly effective ending. You can tell Bond has worked with Jamie Travis before because of his ability to make the uncanny seem all too real, and while Bond's directorial debut may not be as phantasmagorical as a Travis short, Hirsute definitely does have promise, despite the languid acting. Worth checking out just to have it play with your head in freakish ways.

A.J. Bond's Hirsute screens as part of the Short Cuts Canada Programme 3.

(Image: Actor Terrence Howard signs autographs at TIFF, taken by Nancy Paiva.)