The tribute to the Festival des films du monde (FFM) fire piloted by Serge Losique was not ultimately a hoax, as some had nevertheless hinted at the To have to Wednesday.
This program of 20 free screenings, at the Imperial cinema in Montreal, did indeed begin on Thursday, and will continue until September 5. If it does not experience the expected success, it still allows nostalgic film buffs to dive back into certain award-winning works at the festival, among others.
“I was so sad to learn that the FFM was closing in 2018,” says Yanett Rivas, a passionate film buff who volunteered at Serge Losique’s festival for many years. It’s been a few days that she attends, enthusiastic, the free performances at the Imperial.
Sunday evening, however, she seemed very alone, when only nine other people had come to attend the screening, in this room which can accommodate more than 800.
The filmmaker André Forcier, who presented his film there The Wyoming Wind (1994) on Saturday, also laments the turn of events: “There can’t be a lot of people when you don’t announce the line-up. Serge Losique should also have granted interviews to the press. »
The duty has also tried to contact the principal concerned in the past few days, but has not succeeded. Even the event website has been down for at least 24 hours. Mr. Losique also did not go on stage to present his event Thursday, during the opening, in front of the few dozen people present.
An uncertain festival project
Thus, the tribute to the FFM holds up, but does not turn out to live up to the expectations we had for it, says Mr. Forcier. Roland Smith, who was director of many cinemas, including Outremont, also said he was disappointed that the dates of Serge Losique’s event were not announced earlier. He who presents a festival of Latin American films at the Cinéma du Parc at the same time, maintains that he would have organized it earlier.
“It’s clear that somewhere in there, with the idea of not warning the press, for example, a strategy was in place,” says Claude Gagnon, filmmaker, who will present his film Kenny (1987) Friday. He also welcomes the idea of presenting twenty old free films, over several days, in such a large room: “I think we’ve never seen that in Montreal, I’m completely dazzled by this way of doing things. »
Mr. Losique also announced last week his plan to set up a new festival, called Global Festival des films de Montréal (GFFM). This event, which is to be directed by Pierre-Henri Deleau, formerly in charge of the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival, wants to be the “natural successor of the FFM”.
However, as reported The duty last Thursday, Mr. Deleau would not have been made aware of the details of the event. No distributor contacted by The duty claims to have been contacted about the GFFM. Moreover, the son of Serge Losique and director of the Imperial, François Beaudry-Losique, cannot confirm that the festival will take place one day.
Claude Gagnon insists all the same on the importance of the FFM, which was held from 1977 to 2018: “If we managed to bring back the FFM in all its glory, all the next generation would benefit from it. This kind of festival can have an important role in promoting films, and Mr. Losique has had a major impact on film culture in Quebec. It must be said. »