She plays Cindy Bandolini, a mobster's daughter who attends Harvard and makes life difficult for indie actor Adrian Grenier. Grenier, who played in last year's Drive Me Crazy, received critics accolades for his recent role in John Waters' latest, Cecil B. DeMented. Playing his girlfriend is former Noxzema poster girl Rebecca Gayheart, the svelte blue-eyed beauty who had a stint on Beverly Hills 90210.
 
  Harvard Man centers around lead actor Grenier playing a Harvard undergrad and basketball player who falls into the dark world of drugs and gambling. Milwaukee Bucks pointguard Ray Allen was on hand to lend the set some on-court flair. He was also in He Got Game, acting along side Denzel Washington.

  Also trotting around campus was Joey Lauren Adams, the cute-as-pie actress who smiled bright in Chasing Amy and Big Daddy and who was also at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Eric Stoltz, who plays an FBI agent with a limp, was also on hand at the fest to promote Terence Davies' The House of Mirth.
- Zack Medicoff

ollowing a busy spring and summer season, the movie scene all but dried up in Nova Scotia for the past few months. However, late fall appears to offer hope as rumors abound about three productions coming to the province.

  Although not confirmed, early rumblings suggest Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey could be heading to Nova Scotia sometime in the future. Producers of the on again-off again The Shipping News, which previously had John Travolta and Billy Bob Thornton cast in the lead on different occasions, have been rumored to be scouting out possible locations in Nova Scotia. The film, based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author E. Annie Proulx's novel, has been plagued by delays in recent years and although the project may finally be on track, it can't be confirmed.

  Rumors also surround another feature film project slated for filming here. Let Virginia Ride is in preliminary stages of pre production but speculation in the Nova Scotia film community has Dan Ackroyd and Minnie Driver coming to the province for the shoot.

  Details are also sketchy on a third project called Glimpse of Hell slated to be filmed in Halifax. While actual film production has experienced an uncharacteristic dry spell, movie goers and movie makers enjoyed an eclectic mix of offerings at the 20th annual Atlantic Film Festival held in Halifax in early September. The festival highlight featured a presentation by legendary film director Norman Jewison.

  As director of some of Hollywood's most successful films, including In the Heat of the Night, Agnes of God, Moonstruck and the recent controversial biopic about wrongly-convicted boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, Jewison captivated the audience of 200 movie makers and press attending an industry luncheon September 21.

  The Academy Award winning director/producer reaped praise on Canadian filmmakers while repeatedly chastising Ottawa for its lack of interest in the arts in a world where cultural identities are swallowed up by multinational corporations. "The future of filmmaking in Canada belongs to the filmmakers of tomorrow but our country does nothing to support them. It's about nurturing talent," he said. "It's sad when a country doesn't support its youth, its culture ... its very essence of society; it's very difficult for Canadians to tell people how good we are."

  Now working on a screen adaptation of the Pulitzer prize-winning play Dinner with Friends for HBO, Jewison was philosophical about last year's snub of The Hurricane, which he considers his best work to date. "I don't make films for award shows," said the director, whose films have received a total of 45 Academy Award nominations. He has taken home a dozen Oscars, most recently the Irving Thalberg Award for his body of work. "It's about the story. That's the most important element."
- Vernon Oickle