TORONTO - There were warm words for Winnipeg at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.
References to the Manitoba capital popped up several times during the 11-day movie-marathon.
In the festival's opening film, Davis Guggenheim's "From the Sky Down," Bono and co. can be seen hobnobbing with supporters on Winnipeg streets. The doc also shows the Irish supergroup at a downtown city theatre sharing memories of making their 1991 album, "Achtung Baby."
Another excellent festival documentary, "Paul Williams: Still Alive," reveals that the '70s icon has always been warmly embraced in Winnipeg.
The film follows the journey of Oscar-nominated filmmaker (and Williams superfan) Stephen Kessler as he sets out to find out what happened to his idol.
Williams, whose hits included "The Rainbow Connection" and "We've Only Just Begun," all but dropped out of the spotlight due to a drug addiction, but audience members at a gig in the Prairie city are shown giving him an emotional welcome.
Kessler says the response at the Winnipeg show, where one weeping fan struggles to put her feelings for Williams into words, inspired him to push on with his film.
"I think there's something in the Canadian spirit that's really open and really innocent and generous -- I mean innocent in the best sense -- where all these years later they would embrace Paul and be happy to see him like an old member of the family," Kessler said in an interview at the festival.
"It really was that kind of love that they had for him that made me think: 'You know what? I'm not the only person that's like this. This really could be something that means something to people."'
"Goon" stars Alison Pill and Jay Baruchel, meanwhile, fondly recalled falling in love while shooting the hockey comedy during a frigid winter in the 'Peg.
The film, from "Fubar" director Michael Dowse, is inspired by the book "Goon: The True Story Of An Unlikely Journey Into Minor League Hockey," about the real-life adventure of Doug Smith, who began skating at age 19 and literally fought his way into minor league hockey.
Sean William Scott plays a bouncer who brawls his way onto a local hockey team, while Baruchel is his best friend and Liev Schreiber portrays another bruiser in the league.
Scott also had praise for the wintry shooting location, noting that "girls dress better in Winnipeg" than in his nearby home state of Minnesota.
"If I'm in Vancouver, you've always gotta hit one of those crazy underground clubs. You have to see what the hip kids are doing these days. And Toronto, I love going to Little Italy. In Winnipeg, it's meeting Winnipeg chicks."
The Toronto International Film Festival festival wraps Sunday.
