The Montreal Film Festival, despite fierce competition from its rival Toronto, remains an important date in the North American calendar, 20 years after its inception
The Montreal World Film Festival (Festival des Films du Monde) celebrates its 20th anniversary this year (22 August-2 September), but judging by the announcements of its schedule so far, it's going to be a relatively low-key affair.
As an early taste of the official festival, Montreal held outdoor screenings in July of Le facteur (the French language version of Il postino), Camille Claudel and Le grand bleu.
To commemorate its 20th anniversary, Montreal will be showcasing a programme called '20 years, 20 movies'. Top Quebecois films made since 1976, the festival's inaugural year, including such acclaimed films as Les bons débarras, Les plouffe, Le déclin de L'empire Américain, Jésus de Montréal and Léolo, will be unspooled. The films were selected through a survey of film industry professionals, critics and distributors.
Also announced was Pudding chômeur, the latest movie from Gilles Carle (Les plouffe). The film, whose title is a slang reference to an unemployed man, will be shown in competition. Legendary actress Jeanne Moreau will be honorary president of the competition jury, which will judge 21 films.
Also on tap at Montreal is a salute to Russian cinema. In all, Montreal expects to unveil some 400 films at the festival.
Suzanne Villeneuve, director of communications for the Montreal World Film Festival, is bullish about the festival's continued existence. 'In spite of all the changes that we are seeing, budget cuts from Telefilm Canada, from the city, from the province, the festival will go on.'
To compensate for lost monies, the festival is turning towards the corporate world for help. 'There's more work being done towards corporate sponsorship,' says Villeneuve, adding that the festival is more popular than ever. 'I remember several years ago a hundred guests who would come in from all over the world and now we're looking at hundreds of people who come in every year.' (The
festival saw a record 350,000 admissions over its 10 days in 1995.)
Villeneuve points to all the celebrities who have attended Montreal over the years, including last year's honorary president Gérard Depardieu, Liv Ullmann, Alain Delon, Jane Fonda, Anthony Hopkins and Clint Eastwood, among many others. 'So many great names have come to the festival.'
The festival's lustre has dimmed somewhat in recent years, as its perennial rival Toronto has stolen more of the publicity spotlight, but Montreal still premieres major titles; last year its schedule boasted The Usual Suspects, which had to be moved to a bigger theatre to accommodate everyone who wanted to see it, The Brothers McMullen, Georgia, Angels & Insects, Anne Frank Remembered and Cold Comfort Farm. The festival also gave a big push to competition entry Liste noire, the Quebec thriller that brought in over C$1 million (US$730,000) at the box office, the highest grossing Canadian film of 1995. Jennifer Jason Leigh's win as best actress for Georgia presaged her later kudos in the US.
Montreal's festival also offers significant economic benefits to the city of Montreal. 'The figures speak for themselves,' says Daniele Cauchard, the festival's vice president. These include 706 jobs created by last year's edition of the festival, including 358 people directly employed by the festival over the year. Quebec as a whole derived C$60 (US$44) million worth of economic benefits, C$23 (US$16.8) million of that coming directly from the festival.
Unlike perennial rival Toronto, which announced some significant programme changes for 1996, Montreal's festival will stay intact this year, with the competition section; Hors Concours (out of competition); Cinema of Today; Cinema of Tomorrow; Latin American Cinema; Panorama Canada; TV Films; Tributes; and the Canadian Student Film Festival returning for the 20th edition. 'Why mess with something that works really well,' says Villeneuve.
Also coming back: Serge Losique, Montreal's founder and the only president the festival has ever had. Villeneuve pays tribute to Losique's 'total passion and love for cinema' as a major factor in Montreal's success over its first 19 years. And she adds, confidently, 'it will be around for 20 more years.'
