"Have film. Will travel" is the ethos of the Toronto Film Circuit; an organisation whose tireless promotion of independent Canadian cinema has seen it visit 40 countries in recent years and who is currently to be found in the UK with the North of Hollywood tour.

Now in its fifth year, the tour takes its lead from the Toronto International Film Festival, of which the Film Circuit and its international arm are part, selecting the best of the country's new and classic films that otherwise would not be seen owing to a lack of distribution. This year's seven films provide an eclectic mix: from romantic comedy Sabah by emerging talent Ruba Nadda; to established director Atom Egoyan's Exotica set in a Toronto strip club; to the chilling dreamscape of former music-video director Robin Aubert's St-Martyrs-des-Damnés. The programme represents a diversity that the circuit is understandably keen to exhibit to a wider audience.

The difficulty of finding audiences for independent films, especially outside their native countries, is notorious. But the task of the Canadian film distributor is hard even by these standards. Perhaps this is because it is relatively new to filmmaking � having made very few movies before 1967. More likely, sharing a border with the US proves a handicap. Ask yourself what the last Canadian film you saw was, and would you even know it if you saw it? It illustrates the problem � well known to Canadian tourists � that to the foreigner Canadian and American are almost indistinguishable. David Cronenberg is Canadian � but who knew?

Putting this to Cam Haynes, director of the Film Circuit, he is wary of the American association, explaining even the name of the tour is indicative of the problem. "I didn't want North of Hollywood as the name. That idea came from the UK," he says. "That's a cultural difference: Canadians don't see themselves as North of Hollywood but the rest of the world seems to feel that way."

Actor Guy Thauvette who appears in another of the billed films, Mémoires Affectives, is aware of Hollywood 's hegemony of the international industry. He acknowledges its universal influence describing American film and television's omnipresence as "an invasion". However, members of the tour are not consumed by the issue and reject the suggestion their work actively attempts to distance itself from American movies. "When I'm making a film," says director Ruba Nadda, "my first impulse isn't to make the most un-American thing in the world."

Her comments are characteristic of Film Circuit's international approach. "You have to make a film not just for your country � you have to make a film for everybody," comments Thauvette. Their intention is not to compete with the output of other countries, including the United States, but to close ranks with other independent filmmakers who struggle in the shadow of studio marketing juggernauts. It is because of this that Haynes wishes to stress Hollywood is not the be all and end all of US cinema. "You can't just say 'American films,'" he cautions, keen to highlight the plight of thousands of US films made but not seen.

Haynes's point is that independent film struggles regardless of nationality � and he wants to change this. The circuit's scope is far wider than the promotion of individual films; it aims to overhaul the way such movies are marketed. "This is to create a network," he says, "a new infrastructure in the world where independent films will find a home. My hope is that eventually this infrastructure can be used by everyone." He insists this is necessary because the current method follows that of studio movies but fails those without a multi-million dollar marketing budget. He explains by way of example: "How do you take Sabah and put it through the same mechanism as Lord of the Rings and expect it to survive?"

Film Circuit's alternative model is based on grassroots distribution using events to pull in audiences at the mini mum of cost. As with the UK tour, directors and cast travel with circuit staff to take part in post-screening Q and As. They become missionaries of the independent movie, touring deep into countries rather than just concentrating on capital cities.

The North of Hollywood tour is part of this overarching project and after five years they are enthusiastic about the tour and the kinship they have in the UK and Republic of Ireland . "We have more connection here than we have in the United States," says Robin Aubert, director of Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnes. However it remains a tough market to break, for them, as much as anyone else. For Nadda, it is the one country she has been unable to sell Sabah to. "What it comes down to is money," explains Haynes. "If you are going to launch a film in the UK it's extremely expensive." So for the majority of the films on the programme, the screenings will provide the first and probably only chance for UK viewers to see them.

With the tour being funded by Foreign Affairs Canada, Haynes also stresses the importance of state backing of independent film. He compares the UK Film Council with Téléfilm in Canada and SODEC in Quebec , without which none of the films on the programme would have been made. "Every country has to subsidise or die," he says.

It's also about what governments get out of this is increased communication between countries. It's a view characteristic of Canada's use of the medium, having set up the National Film Board in 1939 to make documentaries so its people could experience life on other sides of the huge country. Haynes seems to apply the same reasoning to the world at large. "What we're really big on is � it's very hard to hate someone that you've met," says Haynes. "It creates more understanding."

With this in mind, Haynes has ambition stretching below the 49 th parallel. Rather than being awed or frustrated by US dominance of the movie industry, he pities its lack of the type of communication independent film can engender. "The country that needs that most right now is America," he says. "I want to do an American tour of eight upcoming voices out of the US to let the world know that they're decent people." South of Toronto, they could use his help. 

3 NEEDLES Thom Fitzgerald

In China, Jin Ping (Lucy Liu) sets up a mobile blood collection service and inadvertently starts an epidemic. In South Africa, Clara (Chlöe Sevigny), a novice nun, sets out to help poor children despite local superstitions and the church's restrictions. In Canada, Denny (Shawn Ashmore), a second-rate porn actor, sets in motion a series of events that will forever change his own life as well as his mother's (Stockard Channing). 3 NEEDLES is an intense and powerful film that examines the AIDS epidemic on a global scale. The film also stars Olympia Dukakis and Sandra Oh.

EXOTICA Atom Egoyan

This classic Canadian film centres around the complex relationship between Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a man crippled by the tragic death of his daughter, and a young exotic dancer, Christina (Mia Kirshner). Christina works at Exotica, a high-toned voyeur's paradise that runs on the tortured energy of its announcer (Elias Koteas), and the regal principles of its lonely and pregnant owner (Arsinée Khanjian). Francis transforms his mourning into disturbing psychological rituals, drawing both Christina and a young babysitter (Sarah Polley) into his pain. As Francis pushes at the limits of obsession, his own desires become tangled with the already knotted lives around him.

MÉMOIRES AFFECTIVES Francis Leclerc

Alexander Tourneur (Roy Dupuis), awakens to find himself in hospital, emerging from a coma in which he was declared clinically dead. Victim of a hit-and-run that has left him with total memory loss, Alexander's return to life is difficult. As Alexander begins to see those closest to him again, images return to haunt his recovery, images that don't seem to belong to him. Along with his forgotten memories, those from a distant and violent past swirl around in his head. Alexander's desire to remember will bring him back to the moment he swore to forget. By returning to the source, he will have to confront the truth.

LA NEUVAINE Bernard Émond

The story of Jeanne (Élise Guilbault) and François (Patrick Drolet), two strangers who meet by chance and undertake individual journeys into the true meaning of faith: Jeanne is a Montréal doctor recovering from a trauma and François is a small-town boy trying to save his sick grandmother through a Catholic prayer ritual.

SABAH Ruba Nadda

Sabah (Arsinée Khanjian) is a 40-year-old Muslim, Arab woman. One day, when Sabah least expects it, she falls in love with the wrong man: She's Muslim, he's not. Keeping him secret from her family, she goes on a whirlwind affair before both culture and love collide.

SAINTS-MARTYRS-DES-DAMNÉS Robin Aubert

In this visually striking mystery, people in the small Quebec village of Saint-Martyrs-des-Damnés are disappearing. A tabloid journalist, Flavien Juste (François Chénier), and his photographer friend, Armand Despas (Patrice Robitaille), are sent to Saint-Martyrs to investigate the phenomenon. When Armand disappears, Flavien decides he will do anything he can to find his friend.

A SIMPLE CURVE Aubrey Nealon

Caleb (Kris Lemche) loves his father, Jim (Michael Hogan), but thinks that all of Jim's business decisions lead to failure. When Matthew (Matt Craven) arrives to launch a high-end fishing lodge, Caleb sees fortune looming, provided he can keep his father distracted long enough. But a small deception leads to colossal betrayal, and soon Caleb is forced to confront his father.