TIFF Party: A throng of homegrown talent at the Maison Birks Women in Film party

At a packed bash at Maison Birks’s Bloor Street store yesterday, the jeweller and Telefilm Canada paid tribute to 10 Canadian women—five actors and five directors—who’ve each had an outstanding year. Among those being fêted: Midnight’s Children director Deepa Mehta and fellow filmmakers Alanis Obomsawin, Louise Archambault and Chloé Robichaud, as well as Orphan Black actress Évelyne Brochu. Sadly, fellow honourees Sarah Polley, Sarah Gadon, Jessica Paré, Geneviève Bujold and Allison Pill were all absent, though both Paul Haggis and Atom Egoyan showed up to support their colleagues (the latter singing the praises of Canada’s underappreciated talent from Quebec’s Léa Pool to Toronto-born film pioneer Mary Pickford). Hometown legend Bruce LaBruce also walked the carpet, flanked by the stars of his latest film Gerontophilia and wearing avery  tight tee paying homage to an all-girl Ramones tribute band. Finally, never missing a chance to quip, Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson said, “I’m all for women in film—it’s half the population. In fact, there’s a party later for the non-participation of men in film.”