Montreal: A delegation of prominent National Film Board filmmakers found themselves out in the cold when they traveled to Ottawa this month to meet with Canadian Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy.

Dupuy refused to see the filmmakers, who had made the eleventh-hour trip to discuss anticipated budget cuts at the board.

Andre Melancon, president of the 327-member Syndicat general du cinema et de la television at the nfb, says letters, faxes and couriered requests were sent to the minister, but none were answered. To add insult to injury, he says staff at Heritage Canada refused to take possession of some 5,600 letters written on behalf of the nfb, and following a three-hour runaround, the letters were finally dumped at a government office in Hull, Que.

Melancon says the shabby reception reflects the Liberal government’s contradictory attitude towards the nfb and Canadian culture agencies in general.

‘The paradox is that the crtc has called for more Canadian production, higher quotas and more documentaries. They have licensed Discovery Channel and Canal D, but there are still threats to the board. Why close the film board when it’s the premier place for documentary production in Canada?’ asks Melancon.

He says 107 jobs were cut at the nfb last year, and another 134 jobs will be lost if cumulative cuts of 5% a year over four years are introduced in this month’s budget.

‘It is false to say the nfb is an overly bureaucratic organization,’ says Melancon. ‘This might have been true in the past, but there is no fat left. Last year, on a budget of $84 million, the board produced 115 films. A single Hollywood picture can cost as much, and we defend Canadian culture,’ he says.

Among the nfb directors, producers and technicians who traveled to Ottawa were Ishu Patel, Beverley Schaffer, Gilles Blais, Colin Low, Pierre Perrault, Maurice Bulblian, Co Hoedeman, John Weldon and Anita Element.

Melancon says the nfb’s three main unions did not protest last year’s $11 million budget cut.

‘That’s what makes us angry,’ he says. ‘We accepted the 1995 budget of $79 million, but that is the minimum level we need to maintain quality and production.’

Melancon says cumulative cuts of 8% over four years would likely result in the closing down of a big part of Montreal headquarters and most regional offices.

Cumulative cuts at the 5% level, almost a certainty, will reduce the board’s annual budget by $3.9 million in 1995/96, $7.7 million in 1996/97, $11.2 million in 1997/98, and $14.3 million in 1998/99, reducing the nfb’s budget to $60.5 million in the final year. If an 8% cumulative cut is introduced, the budget could be as low as $53 million by the end of the decade.

Employment levels at the board have dropped from 1,000 in the late 1980s to 600 this year.

Melancon says major cuts put the nfb’s private-sector film support program, its soundstages and stock-shot library at risk.

‘What sort of cuts will be made if we have to cut $14 million in 1998/99?’ asks Melancon. ‘Is this what Canadians want for their cultural institutions at the turn of the century?’

As the threat of new cuts becomes ever more real, the nfb’s publicity department has been working overtime.

Press releases have underlined international recognition for productions such as The Boys of St. Vincent, and the 11 Genie nominations for nfb productions or coproductions in 1995.

The board has also picked up a 1995 Oscar nomination for the animated short Bob’s Birthday. Coproduced with Channel 4 in the u.k. and directed by Alison Snowden and David Fine, the nomination is the board’s 60th, of which it has won nine, including an honorary Oscar in 1989.

Ironically for some of the nfb filmmakers shunned by Heritage Canada, there was a much warmer reception earlier this month in Hollywood.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited veteran animators Hoedeman and Patel as guests of honor at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Tournee of Animation. Oscar-winning Radio-Canada animator Frederic Back was also invited. The tribute was hosted by Leonard Maltin, who also hosted an nfb tribute broadcast on a&e this fall.

In addition, the American Cinematheque and the International Documentary Association will pay a special 20th anniversary tribute to Studio D with a screening program that begins March 4 at the Chaplin Theatre in Los Angeles.