An Affleck among us by MATTHEW HAYS Indeed, white-hot actor Ben Affleck will be arriving in Montreal within two weeks to begin shooting The Sum of All Fears, the espionage thriller which will be directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams, Sneakers). I already have it from good sources on the set that things are pretty frantic; due to the impending actor's strike in Hollywood, the shoot, which would normally take around two months, is being pushed to wrap in four weeks. The screenplay is based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name, and features the heroic Jack Ryan character played in the past by Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) and Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October). The younger Affleck will take over the role. The film has already been through a rather major controversy. In the novel, a nuclear device threatens to go off in Denver during the Super Bowl. (A nuclear device going off would be nasty, but how could terrorists be so cold and calculating to actually do it during the Super Bowl?!) Clancy originally had Arab terrorists steal the device from Israel and then use it for blackmail. But activists, in particular the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), protested loudly, asking that the Arab characters, who they felt enhanced a nasty stereotype, be changed. The filmmakers behind The Sum of All Fears have acquiesced and the Arabs have been magically transformed into Neo-Nazis for the big screen. Clancy has made no public statement on the altering of this key detail from his book. Congrats go out to local filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, whose feature Maelstroem picked up five richly deserved Genies this week, including the Best Picture and Best Director trophies. The sweep was considered a shoo-in; less certain was the Best Doc category, where Ron Mann won for Grass. I urge people to check out the other nominees in this category, all of who would have been equally worthy winners, including Peter Wintonick's Cinéma Vérité and Alanis Obomsawin's Rocks at Whiskey Trench. The director of The Left Side of the Fridge, Philippe Falardeau (no relation to separatist Pierre Falardeau), won the Jutra Genie for best debut feature. It's an odd little film, a faux doc, neo-Marxist take on the perils of finding employment in an increasingly globalized economy. Paul Ahmarani and Stéphane Demers play roomies, with Demers playing the filmmaker who decides to chronicle Ahmarani's frustrating search for employment. The film reopens this Friday, Feb 2, at the Cinema du Parc in French with English subtitles. The Cinémathèque québécoise begins a two-week retrospective of the highly regarded Swiss documentarian Richard Dindo today (Feb. 1). Dindo's choices in subject have been varied and fascinating, from the war photojournalist Hans Staub to everyone's favourite revolutionary, Che Guevara. See repertory listings for details. COMMENTS: mhays@mtl-mirror.com