On saving the World

>> It's time for Montreal's biggest film fest to go back to the drawing board

by MATTHEW HAYS

Could the World Film Festival, Montreal's biggest annual film fest--and one of the biggest in the world--be at risk of losing its precious government subsidies? It might seem surprising that the fest would be in any trouble at all; the box office for 1998 is undeniably impressive, with 350,000 spectators lined up to see the celluloid offered.

But a disturbing announcement came shortly after the end of World Film Fest. Due to the extremely negative buzz surrounding the event this year, Quebec cultural minister Louise Beaudoin ordered a complete review of the fest's operations. The context of the review announcement was indeed extreme: the press had collapsed into a virtual dogpile of criticism of fest ringmaster Serge Losique. The movies were mediocre; the parties were dull and lifeless; the fest lacked overall vision; and, perhaps the most horrifying charge, that the festival had, without question and perhaps irreversibly, fallen well behind the Toronto International Film Festival in stature. Even critics at La Presse, which is the official media sponsor of the WFF, chimed in with curses of their own.

Attacks and counterattacks

In an op-ed piece which ran in La Presse last month, World Fest brass responded to the charges made during the festival. For organizers to release such a statement is, without a doubt, highly unusual (especially for Losique, who's mighty media-shy). The piece, which was co-authored by Losique, vice president Danièle Cauchard and managing director Gilles Bériault, attacked the press for their attacks on the festival. Creating a festival as huge as the WFF is one massive balancing act, the three argued, and the worst thing that could happen would be for the WFF to imitate other festivals.

Indeed, the authors made some fair points--organizing an event of this magnitude couldn't possibly be easy. But the fest's solid box office doesn't place them above reproach; rather, it makes intense scrutiny of this important cultural event all the more crucial.

The commission, made up of key members of the executive of Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), who will consult with Telefilm and other industry players, is currently conducting its own investigation. Its findings and recommendations will be made public early next year. Here are our recommendations, both major and minor, to the SODEC folk and the World Film Fest.

1. Create a more open dialogue with the press

A good chunk of the blame for the miserable press the festival got this year has to do with the lack of communication between the local press and Losique himself. In order to counter any misunderstandings and to indicate exactly what the festival is doing, Losique should grant plenty of interviews, everywhere, year 'round. It doesn't take a seasoned PR specialist to see that this would establish a better sense of trust between the media and the fest, in turn assuring better press generally. Approximately one quarter of the festival's $4-million budget comes from government sources (SODEC and Telefilm); that means a big part of the event is publicly owned. That means Losique has an obligation to answer criticisms as they arise.

2. Don't forget to dance

Losique and company correctly point out that they can't be held responsible if the parties aren't as exciting as people would like. And frankly, the parties at festivals like Toronto's, Sundance and Cannes can all be pretty dreary, too. But socializing among filmmaker guests really should be an important part of the festival. I've heard countless tales from film types who met up with others at festivals and ended up becoming work colleagues.

On the point of promotion of the local film industry, the World trio are contradictory in their La Presse manifesto. On the one hand, they argue they can't be held responsible for the state of the local industry. But they also cite Robert Lepage and Manon Briand as major success stories from last August. Clearly, the fest does have implications for the health of the local industry; to say this is strictly a fest for the moviegoing public is a cop-out. Creating a strong networking environment for film types and maintaining a vibrant market should be imperative.

3. Open a dialogue between the public and the filmmakers themselves

Virtually every film fest I've ever been to invites audience members to ask questions of the those involved with the filmmaking experience directly after the film is over. Not the World. If this much money is being invested in having film types arrive from all over the planet, let them chat up the audiences after the movie. This requires a bit of organization, but it's well worth it, helping to create a sense of the public connecting with the artists.

4. Ignore Hollywood/Don't ignore Hollywood

Losique correctly points out that the American cultural imperialists already dominate too much of the market, so why make the World Fest reflect that ugly reality? The ugly reality is, some high-profile U.S. fare is almost certainly necessary in order to draw crowds and keep distributors, producers and international press in attendance. It's a sad fact. What the World organizers can do is bypass the truly mainstream stuff (Pleasantville and Antz, for example, which both opened at Toronto) and opt for the unusual and off-kilter (Gummo, Boogie Nights and Sick, all of which opened at Toronto, too). Some American films attract international media and industry attention; this means more of the folks with the bank accounts show up at the festival; this in turn means people will want their films to open here, rather than elsewhere.

Le Confessional, Love and Human Remains, The Red Violin--these all should have been premiered at our event, but good business sense got in the way and they went down the 401. A higher profile ultimately means better quality movies for the event--and the quality of the average movie playing at the World Film Fest could definitely be raised much, much higher.

Losique is correct in arguing the fest should reflect a well-balanced, international diet of cinema. But there's no reason why the fest can't display plenty of films from all five continents while also screening the best American stuff. Anyway, there's some hypocrisy on the part of Losique here: that was him rubbing elbows with Hollywood star Angela Bassett at the World Fest premiere of How Stella Got Her Groove Back--an undeniably featherweight movie.