By way of introduction, I?m Jesse Wente, one of few lucky, and at this point somewhat bleary eyed, programmers charged with selecting the Canadians films to be shown at this year?s festival.  It?s one of the busiest years in Canadian cinema that I can remember - we?ve seen nearly 200 feature films - and Canadian movies will play a prominent role at this year?s festival.  From big names, to new discoveries, from coast to coast to coast, TIFF 2007 will showcase the best filmmaking this country has to offer.  I hope you?ll join me at the festival, and make sure to bookmark this blog, as this is where you?ll find all the latest on this exciting year for Canadian movies, and where you?ll hear from some of the people making it happen, like Andrew Currie, the director of last year?s opening film for Canada First, the homegrown zomedy classic, ?Fido?.

?Having Fido's world premiere at TIFF was an amazing experience.  Being programmed as the Opening film for Canada First was an honour that came with my first time doing the 'red carpet', which was sort of terrifying but also way more fun than I expected.  We screened at the Ryerson Theatre to a packed house, and the reaction was just fantastic. Thank God people were laughing in the right places! All the lead actors were there and it was especially nice to have Billy Connolly sitting in front of me, and hearing his huge Scottish laugh all the way through the movie.  I really did make Fido for people who love films, and more than any festival I've ever been to, TIFF is the film lovers festival, so I couldn't have asked for a better place for its world premiere.? - Andrew Currie

One of the highlights of ?Fido?s? opening night had to be Billy Connelly?s wild tartan pants ? I forgot to ask him where he got them.  To find out who will open Canada First this year and what they?ll be wearing, be sure to check back here.  Until then ? see you in September!