New Montreal FilmFest folds

The New Montreal FilmFest will not be returning after a disastrous inaugural year, the festival’s organizer announced.

Cultural events company Spectra, which also runs the city’s popular jazz festival, sent out a news release late Friday pronouncing dead the festival that debuted in October 2005.

“Considering the 2005 experience, we want to avoid at all costs that Montreal once again projects an incoherent image on the international scene with several concurrent festivals,” said Spectra head Alain Simard, acknowledging the effects of competition with two other film festivals in the city.

Spectra officials had sought to merge with a rival festival, the Festival du Nouveau Cinema, which turned down the offer.  The 35-year-old Festival du Nouveau Cinema is smaller but highly regarded.  Its executive director, Bruno Jobin, has continually dismissed attempts by FilmFest to amalgamate, saying he’s never been in negotiations with Spectra.

The New Montreal FilmFest was created with the support of Telefilm Canada and the Quebec cultural agency, SODEC, which had pulled funding from the Montreal World Film Festival run by Serge Losique.   Government officials accused Losique of not being transparent enough about his festival’ s use of public funds.

Losique, in turn, sued Telefilm for $2.5 million and vowed to continue his festival without government funding.

FilmFest officials decided to concentrate on francophone films, avoiding the Hollywood focus of the Toronto International Film Festival and the world cinema of Losique’s festival.

Telefilm revealed that FilmFest lost $850,000, spurring Losique to call for a public inquiry into the “resounding and humiliating failure” of the Montreal FilmFest.