The Generation youth jury at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival awarded “Mary & Max” with a special mention. The Australian animated work voiced by the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette and Eric Bana, about the relationship between two pen pals, an 8-year-old girl from Melbourne and a 44-year-old New Yorker afflicted by autism, is, according to the jury, “ironic, endearing and has an unrivalled aesthetic. Who am I and why am I? What is the meaning of friendship and how do I find my way to love and to my own self? Five years of production at the rate of five seconds a day definitely paid off.”

Showtime has given a second season to “United States of Tara.” The premium network has renewed the Toni Collette comedy about a woman with multiple personalities for another round. “Tara” has averaged 2.1 million per week, including repeat airings, which is better than “Dexter” and “Weeds” in their first seasons (the “Tara” number also doesn’t include DVR use or on-demand viewing). Helping matters: Sunday night’s fourth episode climbed 15% over the previous week.

As reported earlier, the animated “Mary and Max”, voiced by Toni Collette, Philip Seymor Hoffman and Eric Bana, opened this years Sundance Film Festival. Unfortunately, none of the stars attended the premiere (on the other hand we’re getting plenty of Toni these days anyway ;-) but the director of “Mary and Max”, Adam Elliot, and producer, Melanie Coombs, were in attendance, as was Sundance boss Robert Redford. You can find a couple reviews on the film at Variety, Cinematical and Coming Soon. “Mary and Max” will be shown next month at the Berlin Film Festival.