Never one to be out-hyped, Robert LePage's (Le Confessional) latest, his English-language debut, is being shown under the label "Special Presentation". Possible Worlds, a magic realist fable, follows the cross-dimensional feelings one man (Tom McCamus) has for a woman (Tilda Swinton).

2000 will additionally see the on-screen return of many other prominent North of the Border directors: Clement Virgo, John Greyson, and Lynne Stopkewich, to name a few. Gary Burns follows up his Kitchen Party with the topical (in light of the current "Survivor"/"Big Brother" claustrophobia fad) Waydowntown, in which office employees wager a month's salary each on who can go the longest without leaving the workplace. Don McKellar stars. Anne Wheeler, rising from the ashes of the misbegotten Better Than Chocolate, strives for widespread acclaim with Marine Life, starring Cybill Shepherd as a single mom/lounge singer.

The T.I.F.F. is taking a chance on a number of first-time auteurs as well. Former cartoonist Blaine Thurier's Low Self Esteem Girl "follows an unassuming girl who is pursued by a possessed virgin, a pot dealer, and a Christian Youth group." Sounds to me like one of those self-consciously daring, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink comedies young Canucks are famous for. Sheri Elwood's Deeply headlines Lynn Redgrave in an East Coast coming-of-age drama. Zev Asher brings his first full-length doc to the event, a tribute to an apparently legendary London-based (London, Ontario, that is) noise group called What About Me: The Rise of the Nihilist Spasm Band.

Others that sound interesting, from both veterans and virgins: Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett), about a werewolf who interferes with the death-pact between three teenaged sisters; De L'Art Et La Manière Chez Denys Arcand (George Dufaux), a behind-the-scenes look at moviemaking; and Suspicious River from Stopkewich, whose necrophiliac's love story Kissed I loathed for its dunderheaded approach but admired for its keen performances. Molly Parker plays a disillusioned receptionist lookin' pa nub in all the wrong places. The unpredictable Callum Keith Rennie plays her Mr. Wrong.

For nostalgia's sake, "Canadian Open Vault" headlines a newly restored print of the 1953 Canadian war drama Tit-Coq. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) I can already hear the murmurs: they made films in your country as far back as the fifties?

As per tradition, prizes will be awarded to the most promising "Perspective Canada" entries. CityTV donates $25 000 to the director of the "Best Canadian Feature Film". City also bestows $15 000 upon the "Best Canadian First Feature Film". (You can always tell who's up for that one because they all pace the hotels with sad, hopeful grins constantly plastered on their faces.) The National Film Board of Canada is sponsoring the "NFB-John Spotton Award for Best Canadian Short Film"; its recipient gets $2500 cash against $7500 towards a future production.

Lastly, "Can I Make the Films I Want to Make in Canada Today?" appears to be a must-attend. I will try to cover this panel discussion about the arguably depressing state of our nation's cinema, which takes place at the Japan Foundation on September 12, day 5 of the T.I.F.F. My alma mater, York University, is co-hosting alongside "Perspective Canada".