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Film Title: Where the Truth Lies Programme: VIACOM GALAS Director: Atom Egoyan Country: Canada/United Kingdom Year: 2005 Language: English Time: 107 minutes Film Types: Colour/35mm Rating: 18A

Production Company: Serendipity Point Films Producer: Robert Lantos Screenplay: Atom Egoyan, based on the novel by Rupert Holmes Cinematography: Paul Sarossy Editor: Susan Shipton Production Designer: Phillip Barker Sound: Steven Munro Music: Mychael Danna Principal Cast: Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman, Rachel Blanchard The title of Where the Truth Lies conjures up the elegant and seductive enigmas for which Atom Egoyan is so highly acclaimed. Starring Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth and based on the book by Rupert Holmes, Egoyan’s latest look at the dark secrets which animate the world is a sumptuous and suspenseful evocation of the golden age of the American dream factory. With his trademark style, he wryly and stylishly reveals the seamy, debauched underbelly of fame. In this haunting mystery, perverse realities are concealed behind a bright façade of prestige and stardom. Dangerously sexual, the film is bound to create controversy. Lanny Morris (Bacon) and Vince Collins (Firth) are the most popular entertainers in the late fifties, comedy stars of stage and screen and the nobility of the telethon circuit. When a beautiful young woman is found dead in their hotel room, they are seemingly innocent of wrongdoing and never charged with any crime, but the scandal forces them to go their separate ways to pursue successful solo careers. Fifteen years later, obsessive fan and upstart reporter Karen O’Connor (Alison Lohman) tries to uncover what happened to this deified showbiz duo. Soon, the young woman finds herself out of her depth as she probes into the past of this pair who have never entirely given up their wanton ways. As the film ventures into the netherworld of Lanny and Vince’s sexual proclivities, Karen is confronted with the truth that lies behind their smooth exteriors. Firth is pitch-perfect as the alluring British straight man, while Bacon is a whirlwind of energy as his wacky sidekick. Egoyan skilfully recreates the glossy veneer of the entertainment industry of yore in this fascinating exploration of the gaping chasm between private identity and public persona. The film is intricately structured: from a delicate, tangled web of competing narratives, voiceovers and flashbacks, we must glean the truth from the fiction. As we learn more and more of Lanny and Vince’s ugly secrets, the audacious and intelligent Where the Truth Lies takes us to places we never dreamed of - high and low - all set against the background of the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood. Atom Egoyan was born in Cairo and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. After moving to Toronto at eighteen and studying at the University of Toronto, he began making short films. Egoyan won the International Critics Prize for best film at the Festival de Cannes for Exotica (94) and for The Sweet Hereafter (97), which also won the Grand Prix de Jury. He received the Genie Award for best motion picture three times: in 1994 for Exotica; in 1997 for The Sweet Hereafter; and in 2002 for Ararat (02). His other features are Next of Kin (84), Family Viewing (87), Speaking Parts (89), The Adjuster (91), Calendar (93), Felicia’s Journey (99) and Where the Truth Lies (05). Associated with European Film Promotion, an initiative supported by the European Union’s MEDIA Programme.