As we first predicted here at the end of May, The Stone Angel, director Kari Skogland's adaptation of the Margaret Laurence novel, will have its World Premiere in Toronto. We've been following the progress of this Canadian-produced film for close to a year. It was shot last fall in Manitoba. According to a report in Playback, the $8 million independent film has tremendous international potential.

"It features a well-known and bankable cast -- including Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn (The Wicker Man), Dylan Baker (Fido, Spider-Man 2 and 3), Ellen Page (X-Men: The Last Stand) and Kevin Zegers (Transamerica). Furthermore, Skogland says the story itself is exportable. A test screening for general audiences in Toronto was "extremely positive," says Skogland, and a six-minute trailer screened at the AFM sparked the attention of several American distributors."

"We are putting a toe in the water and talking to one or two companies to see if they will come to the plate with a strong enough offer now," she says. "But if not, then we will go into TIFF without a U.S. distributor, knowing that the audience screening will be strong."

In Normal, from writer/producer/director/cinematographer Carl Bressai, a deadly car accident brings together a group of previously unrelated people, each of whom is forced to deal with the emotional fallout. Zegers co-stars with Carrie-Anne Moss.