'Always Brando' fascinating, well-acted

A conversation with TIFF programmer Rasha Salti led me to Always Brando, a film from Tunisian director Ridha Béhi that's having its world premiere at TIFF. A picture-within-a-picture, it's both Béhi's drama about a young Tunisian actor, Anis Raache, who is a dead ringer for the young Marlon Brando and Béhi's negotiations with the reclusive actor to appear in the film. They met, Brando had agreed to sign on and the died just months before shooting was to start in Tunisia in 2004. The movie is also an exploration via Anis's bit part in an American drama about Atlantis being shot in his village and how the seductive lure of Hollywood can make people engage in self-destructive behaviours. Fascinating and well acted, Always Brando screens again Friday at 2 p.m. at the AMC.

-Linda Barnard