Tough times loom for all cultural disciplines, and Irish film is no exception. The (speak its name in quiet dread) report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes has dared to suggest that the Irish Film Board be abolished and that all film-makers seeking funding should apply to Enterprise Ireland.

Undaunted, the Board recently revealed that six features funded by the organisation are to screen at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival.

The intriguing list comprises Neil Jordan's Ondine(Colin Farrell finds a mermaid in a script by Jordan); Danis Tanovic's Triage(Mr Farrell gets traumatised in Kurdistan in a script by Tanovic); Margaret Corkery's Eamonn(surreal hi-jinks by the seaside); Jordan Scott's Cracks(Ridley's daughter directs a school drama); Carter Gunn's and Ross McDonnell's Colony(a documentary on missing bees); and Ian Fitzgibbon's Perrier's Bounty(comic villainy from ace writer Mark O'Rowe, starring Jim Broadbent, Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson).

Second only to Cannes in its importance to the industry, the Toronto festival kicks off on September 10th with a screening of Jon Amiel's Creation, in which Paul Bettany plays Charles Darwin, and, before events wind down on September 19th, will take in close to 400 films.