Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader

Hard to believe that summer is over already. The month of September brings with it an unhappy anniversary, that of September 11. Who would believe that it has been ten years since this mindless and horrible terrorist act devastated our hopes for a more peaceful world. Life has become more difficult on many fronts since then. Travel certainly has put a crimp into the pleasure part of it.

But there are plenty of diversions to make us think that life is not so bad after all. Of course the Canadian National Exhibition is one and we went and also invited a more typical family than we are to report on their likes and dislikes of this annual fair.

The Toronto International Film Festival has started its previews and will go full force as we are coming out with this publication. The first report is by one of our almost regular writers, Lucille De Saint-Andre called “Le Havre” and is already hailed as the festival’s best.

There are a few great German film productions also, besides a lot of co-productions. One is a about the famous German Painter Gerhard Richter, we had seen here in Toronto some years back with a major retrospective of his work at the AGO. It was quite an honor to have him here and speak with him. When I interviewed him at that time he invited me to come and see him in his studio in Köln (Cologne), but I never made it back to Germany. His fame and importance has only grown over the years and he is now recognized as one of the most important artists of his generation in the world. There will be a major retrospective of his work in a major museum in England. People interested in art should definitely see this film.

Another film is about Germany’s relationship with Africa. This movie sounds promising if a bit mythical with the title being “This River was a Man”. Other German films we have seen before with an African theme were always fascinating, thus I am certain this one will be too.

In the Art Barn at Christie Avenue there is a most interesting theatrical presentation about autistic people and how they can communicate with the help of electronic devices. This is supported by the Goethe Institut Toronto.

Sybille Forster-Rentmeister