Montreal Film Festival continues to weather all controversies

Montreal, Canada, Sep 1 (UNI) As the Montreal Film Festival, which once attracted more controversy than screenings, draws to a close three days from now, a question in the minds of critics is how its founder has survived the crisis to stay at the helm of a foundation which promotes world cinema.

Serge Losique, now 70 plus in age, founded the festival in the 1970s. In an interview with UNI in Montreal, he talked about his long association with the Director-General of the Festival, Daniele Cauchard.

Taking a dig at India's IFFI, which sees frequent changes at the top, and commenting on the comparative success of filmfests like Montreal or Cannes (which had directors on long tenures), Losique said, ''A festival director must have vision - and the time to implement it. It is not only about money but also culture.'' Commenting on the large crowds of cine-fans at this year's fest, Losique opined, '' In Montreal, the festival always had the full support of the people''. Referring to the recent past when the Government had withdrawn subsidies to the festival, thereby impairing its functioning, he was resolute saying, ''Even when the federal government and the provincial government withdrew support, the Tourism Department stayed with us, as did our sponsors. We never lost credibility. Internationally, the films continued to flow in and so did audiences.'' ''This year, 73 countries are represented at the festival, to make it a truly global event. Fifteen directors from Iran are rubbing shoulders with the likes from Europe and Latin America, apart from US and the rest of the world. We are second to none.'' On the inevitable comparison with Toronto, which holds its own filmfest back-to-back with Montreal and has its own circle of supporters in and out of Canada, Losique said, '' Toronto was built on the junkets of American producers. You take away the junkets and there will be no Toronto.'' As for the minimal presence of Indian films at this year's Montreal Fest, Losique said that for the next edition, they hoped to find quality cinema from ''the land of Ray'' for Montreal's discerning audiences.

Daniele Cauchard, also the Vice-President of the Montreal Festival, pointed out, ''No country is considered more privileged here or specially important here. We try to be very international and open to the world as quality is our priority.'' She agreed that in an increasingly corporatising festival milieu, ''this point of view is often considered old-fashioned.'' Yet, critics agree that the programming in Montreal is ''full of surprises and a voyage of discovery''. The informal film-market allows the buyers to see films with the public, instead of isolating them in Industry screenings.

Also, the local French-Canadian film-industry of Quebec (the province in which Montreal is located) recognises that a screening at the Montreal fest gives them better mileage at the box-office in Canada than a showing in Toronto, ''which is more oriented towards American releases.'' With Montreal 2007, Government support and subsidies have come back to it as have the A-list Canadian films. The crowd support has also increased as is evident from the packed screenings in the halls.

UNI