CANADIAN HOPES GRASS MAKES THE CUT AT BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

At a Beck concert at Maple Leaf Gardens last weekend, Toronto filmmaker Ron
Mann was offered a toke on a fellow fan's marijuana cigarette.

"The guy next to me turned and asked: "Do you partake?" Mann recalls with a
giggle. "I thought: "If you only knew."

What the joint-proffering Beck fan didn't realize was his concert neighbour
is one of Canada's foremost researchers on cannabis-related themes.

Mann spent the past four years compiling archival material and rare footage
for his feature-length documentary, Grass, a pop-culture-laced history of
marijuana prohibition from the early 1900s to present day.

A hit at last fall's Toronto International Film Festival, Grass has its
European premiere Thursday at the 50th Berlin Festival, where the 90-minute
pot opus has been selected as the opening film of the cutting-edge Panorama
series.

"Berlin is one of the most important film festivals in the world," says
Mann, who will attend the German screenings - four in all - with associate
producer Marc Glassman, art director Paul Maurides, mixer Keith Elliot and
editor Robert Kennedy.

"The spotlight is definitely on us. This is where we hope to sell Grass (to
film distributors) around the world.

Grass is already targeted for a major North American theatrical release with
30 prints set for dispersal across the United States and Canada beginning in
late May, including a premier in New York City.

A soundtrack album, available on Mercury Records, will coincide with the
film's spring launch.

The 41-year-old Mann marshalled a counter-culture Who's Who to build his
exhaustive collage of American drug laws, government propaganda, pot-themed
tunes, vintage movie reels and public service announcements.

He fondly describes his antic narrative as pot's answer to the 1982
anti-nukes documentary, Atomic Cafe.

Mark Mothersbaugh, former lead singer of new wave legends Devo, contributed
original music to the opening and closing credits, while noted hemp activist
Woody Harrelson volunteered his services as narrator.

Meanwhile, the stoner-culture graphic that swirl and turn through the
opening segment were designed by Paul Mavrides of Fabulous Furry Freak
Brothers fame.

Even Bob Dylan chipped in, offering use of his classic Rainy Day Women No.
12 & 35.

Mann eagerly looks forward to the screenings in Germany, where marijuana
laws are considerably more relaxed.

"The police there are tolerant towards marijuana smokers," says Mann.

"And I'm looking forward to an audience that gets it."

When Grass screened last fall at festivals in Halifax and Vancouver, Mann
says several film-goers "were toking up right in the theatre."

While his documentary doesn't explicitly endorse marijuana use, it presents
a strong case for leniency and decriminalization. Mann says in the United
States alone, 600,000 people were arrested last year on marijuana-related
charges.

While the role of the documentary filmmaker is one of long hours and little
acclaim, festivals like Berlin afford a rare celebrity pedestal for
committed cineastes like Mann.

In Europe, he is an acknowledged master of the documentary form. His earlier
films, Comic Book Confidential (1989) and Twist (1992) both screened at
Berlin. His work has also been shown in Cannes.

"I have a great time whenever I travel to the European film festivals," he
says. "You feel like a rock star, they treat you so well there."

Mann, who gave up tobacco cigarettes a few years back, has only one fear
about his week in Germany.

"What I'm really afraid of is taking up smoking again," he sighs.

"In Berlin, they have these beautiful women dressed up in cowboy outfits.
Marlboro girls, handing out cigarettes for free."