CANBERRA Film maker Sotiris Dounoukos’ short film “Un seul corps” (A Single Body) has enjoyed its initial screening at the celebrated Toronto Film Festival , and the first review is a good one.

The exultant Dounoukos emailed “CityNews” this morning with a link to the critique.

In Toronto reviewer Courtney Small’s review of the film, made in France, she describes it as a “meditative film,” praising Dounoukos as “a director to keep an eye on in the future.”

Written and directed by Dounoukos, whose film about the death of Joe Cinque will be a coming feature, the film shows best friends and skilled abattoir workers David and Wani saving to open their own butchery, when the arrival of a new worker and new reality tests the bonds of their shared life.

Small writes, “Sotiris Dounoukos conjures up a truly moving and powerful contemplation on the fragility of human connection and the forces of nature that impact it. ‘A Single Body’ is a visually striking drama that captures that inexplicable void between grief and happiness that can only be accessed through tragedy.”

No wonder Dounoukos is pleased.

“Un seul corps” will be screened again on September 12 in Toronto.