Fest fight goes to court

A long-simmering dispute between Claude Chamberlan and Dimitri Eipides, codirectors of the Montreal International Festival of New Film and Video, will have its day it court.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Victor Melancon has granted a temporary injunction to Chamberlan and the ifnfv prohibiting Eipides and his new organization, International Festival of New Images – Film and Video, from making any claims on the festival, its program or funding.

The dispute has effectively tied up the festival’s 1994 financing.

The 22-year-old festival is tentatively slated to begin June 9, and the court injunction serves to underline the urgency of the situation.

The court granted the injunction May 4, the day after Telefilm Canada announced it would not act as an arbitrator in the dispute.

Telefilm’s decision affects a significant part of the festival’s financing, up to a third of its annual $500,000, and possibly more.

Noel Cormier, Telefilm director of distribution, marketing and festivals, says the agency ‘has actually received two separate and rival applications, both laying claim to the amount set aside for the ifnfv in its original administrative form.’

The $150,000 reserved by Telefilm for the festival will be set aside until the end of the current fiscal year, and made available retroactively if the dispute is resolved by that time, adds Cormier.

Otherwise, Telefilm says it will be absolved of any funding commitment.

With 1994/95 allocations of $1.65 million, Telefilm supports some 20 Canadian festivals.

The Quebec Superior Court injunction is renewable and vaild until May 13, when a hearing in the case has been scheduled.