Montreal: The outlook for this year’s edition of the Montreal International Film, TV and Video Market is promising, with key contingents of u.s. specialty distributors and European tv buyers confirmed for the Aug. 27 to Sept. 7 market.

Another healthy sign, the Montreal World Film Festival market will be housed in a refurbished and much larger venue in Hotel Wyndham in the downtown Complexe Desjardins.

Market highlights include a three-day symposium on the timely subject of producing feature films without public assistance, and an inaugural market for new media and multimedia companies.

‘When you look at the people who attend the market, mainly they’re interested in niche programming, specialty and independent films,’ says market director Gilles Beriault. ‘That’s why we have specialty distributors from Miramax and Goldwyn, and 20th Century Fox is also sending someone [Isabel Rosenthal, acquisitions and productions].’

Beriault says many u.s. companies active at the festival attend with the goal of preparing detailed screening/buyer assessments.

‘Miramax is sending three people just to make sure they’re here from beginning to end so that they screen everything,’ he says.

Confirmed international tv buyers attending include Georges Goldenstern, ARTE – Le Sept Cinema, France; Claudio Gubitosi, Top Family Programmes, Italy; Oded Horowitz, a tv buyer from Israel; Georges Jetter, representing both Canal+ and Centre Cine tv cct (French-language state television) in Belgium; Lise Lachenal of tsr, Switzerland; and Sierra Guillermo of CineCanal, an Atlanta-based tv buyer for South America.

Montreal operations set for a busy market include film distributors Lions Gate, Alliance Vivafilm, Behaviour Distribution, Remstar and France Film, as well as tv exporters/importers such as Filmoption International, Mediamax International, Multimedia Group of Canada and international doc specialist Films Transit.

This year’s market features a larger show area outfitted with 12 video screening rooms, an Internet Cafe and the European Film Promotion Office, a 14-member film commission/promotion umbrella group.

efpo delegations include Austria, Germany, Greece, Holland, the u.k., Belgium, Iceland, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and the Scandinavian countries.

This year’s WFF Symposium, ‘Produire sans subvention/ Producing Without Subsidies’ (tax credits excepted) takes place Sept. 2-3 and includes an impressive list of panelists as well as a series of workshops.