Several alleys and parks in Montreal come alive, after dusk, with free screenings. But it takes money to ensure free admission, and the question of financing is the bête noire of many outdoor cinema organizers. CinéRuelles battles every edition, and Cinéma sous les étoiles has lost major private partners in recent years. After ten years of broadcasting, the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) had to put its traditional Cinéma urbain à la belle étoile evenings, presented at Place de la Paix, on hold.
“I admit that it’s very hard. Every year, we grit our teeth, because every year, we wonder how much money we’re going to be able to raise,” laments Clément Delacroix, founder and general manager of CinéRuelles, who volunteers for the project, like all the other members of his team. This organization screens free youth films all summer long in 40 alleys in the Plateau-Mont-Royal and Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie boroughs. And the public is there: some performances attract up to 100 spectators.
These entertainment evenings serve as catalysts for social cohesion within neighborhoods. “It’s a great way to build bonds between new neighbors,” notes Mr. Delacroix.
For each of its editions, in order to enhance the sponsorship of a major private partner, CinéRuelles manages with great difficulty to glean a few small “discretionary” sums, that is, one-off donations from the wallets of federal, provincial and borough elected officials — but these are never very large sums, and obtaining them requires an enormous amount of time. “We fall into the cracks of the big funding organizations. We are not cultural enough, because we do not pay filmmakers directly, but rather their distributors, and we are not community enough, because we do not help a specific population.”
The documentary film festival Cinéma sous les étoiles is attracting an ever-growing number of spectators, both regulars and newcomers. “We really want to expand into different districts, to reach less central audiences who at least have access to this type of film,” says Nicolas Goyette, general and artistic coordinator of the festival. Up to a thousand people show up for the evenings.
“The costs of films and cultural workers have increased significantly, while our funding has stagnated. It has not been indexed sufficiently,” says Mr. Goyette. He adds that because of the difficult economic situation, several of the festival’s major private partners have had to leave the ship since 2022. “It’s very difficult for us. It represented almost 20% of our budget.”
The coordinator says a single screening can cost between $4,000 and $5,000, because of the equipment, organization, broadcast rights and costs related to guest filmmakers, who sometimes come from abroad.
Hubert Sabino-Brunette, co-programmer of the festival, proudly mentions the upcoming visit of Swedish filmmaker Erik Gandini. The latter will present his film After Work in Quebec premiere on August 8 at Molson Park.
The missing of 2024
Economic difficulties have even got the better of some broadcasters, at least for this summer. The Urban Cinema under the Stars screening series, orchestrated for ten years by the SAT, has suspended its activities this year due to lack of funding.
The OK LÀ! organization, Who dedicates its programming to the diffusion of experimental music and performative cinema, also had to cancel its outdoor events this year. The reasons: the renovations of the roof of the Éthel parking lot, in Verdun, where it screened films, and the budgetary issue, which caused a lot of stress for the organization. “In the past, we had answers from the Canada Council for the Arts at the very last minute, so we decided to let a summer go by to allow us to breathe better and have a funding cycle that made more sense,” explains Michel Bardier, co-founder of the organization.