The International Film Festival in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (FCIAT) will open on Saturday with the presentation of the film Everything went well, by François Ozon, before closing the following Thursday with The Power of the Dog, by Jane Campion. In the meantime, the public of the region 08 will have, as every year, more than enough to satisfy its cinephile tooth. However, this vintage is an anniversary, the FCIAT in fact celebrating its forty years of existence. Jacques Matte, president and co-founder, remembers.
What does forty years of the International Film Festival in Abitibi-Témiscamingue mean to you? A little dizziness?
It is certain that, when we see that there are forty years of events, we are astonished to be still there, Louis [Dallaire, cofondateur], Guy [Parent, cofondateur] and me. After forty years, we can now speak of a story, more than an adventure. It’s a story that has been going on for several years and, yes, it makes you dizzy to watch how far we’ve come.
How did your love for cinema come about?
I discovered cinema at the Salle Saint-Stanislas, in Montreal, with the monster films that are now called horror films; the films of Godzilla, for example… Then, in a more serious way, with the films of Sergio Leone, like Once upon a Time in the West. Not to mention the 99-cent films at the Outremont cinema: greetings from elsewhere to Roland Smith, the owner at the time …
Were you surprised by the enthusiasm for the festival, by the loyalty that has rapidly developed within the population?
Every year, we are amazed that people continue to support us. It is obvious that we take this with a lot of pride. We are very proud to have been able to establish ourselves in our community, and even outside the region. We have more and more people from outside; it is a feeling of pride.
One of the keys to the success of the festival is certainly the involvement of the many volunteers (there is even a waiting list). We see the same faces again, and there too, there is this loyalty.
Yes, there is all this volunteer loyalty. And still today, many people volunteer, but we take very little. The whole aspect of volunteering is as important as the rest of the workforce [festivalière]. These are people who love what they do, who are passionate about what they do; they like to welcome people, they like the cinema. They are really tailor-made for us. We are lucky to have them.
Some guests must have marked you more than others? For what reasons ?
Some for the friendship that has developed, as with Pierre Falardeau. Bernard Derome, who came as a speaker… Gilles Carle, of course, who inspired the festival poster this year… Jean-Claude Labrecque and Claude Fournier: people who were like our mentors, people already anchored in the world of cinema and who trusted us at the beginning… And so many others! Obviously Serge Gainsbourg, Claude Lelouch, etc.
Would you say the festival has changed a lot over the years?
The festival has changed a lot on a technical level especially: at the beginning, we were on 16 mm and 35 mm. Now it’s digital. The festival has matured in terms of content. The quality of programming has never stopped improving. We have no choice: if we did not change, we would stand still. We evolved by adding projects for young people, projects like La Watch. It is important to do that, in order to ensure a succession. If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be here today. The gaps that we did not see at the beginning, now we take care of them.
How do you see the future? What do you dream of for the future of the festival?
The challenge is to maintain it, year after year, because it is always fragile. We want to continue doing what we do in the best possible way. All this aspect consisting in creating projects in parallel, we would like to do more, and that they are always high quality activities. There is no limit to what we can do! One thing is certain, we want to keep our own identity, closely linked to the strengths of the region. And also to keep the same festival format, while ensuring, each year, that people experience the same pleasure and that young people join in more and more.
The duty will be in Rouyn-Noranda for the duration of the FCIAT.