VIFF wrap-up

A slew of awards was handed out at the 1994 Vancouver International Film Festival. The Air Canada Award for most popular film at the festival went to Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Red (Trois Couleurs: Rouge). Cowinners of the Federal Express Award for most popular Canadian film were Kathy Garneau for Tokyo Cowboy and Michel Poulette for Louis 19, le roi des ondes (Louis 19 – King of the Airwaves). The Rogers Award for best Canadian screenplay went to the Louis 19 team of Emile Gaudreault, Sylvie Bouchard and Michel Michaud.

According to viff director Alan Franey, 111,867 people attended this year’s festival, a new record (the previous attendance record, set in 1991, was 90,000).

Modus and Neofilm join

Montreal companies Modus TV and Neofilm have amalgamated. Producer Jacques Blain, formerly with Productions sda, and producer Anne-Marie Hetu established Modus tv in 1992. Neofilm was founded in 1993 and produced the miniseries Misericorde.

The first project for the new company, Modus TV/Neofilm, will be Ces Enfants d’ailleurs, a big-budget dramatic television series based on the Arlette Cousture novel.

Producers associated with the new company are Blain, Hetu, Philippe Dussault and Christian Gagne.