Montreal: Wayne Clarkson feels that Telefilm Canada and SODEC were justified in yanking funding from Montreal’s beleaguered World Film Festival, but says that its intended replacement, the New Montreal FilmFest, will have to report on its attendance figures before it will get a second year of funding.

Clarkson made the statements on Oct. 14 in Montreal during a reception put on by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. He acknowledged the first edition of the NMFF had been difficult, and said Telefilm is withholding a final decision on next year’s funding until a full report can be assessed.

Clarkson has come under criticism for remaining silent during Montreal’s ongoing film-festival crisis, with many arguing the federal government’s film funding agency must take a leadership role in fixing what has come to be considered an epic mess. Clarkson took over at Telefilm shortly after it redirected its funds to NMFF.

NMFF organizers have conceded that a disappointing 27,000 tickets were sold to their event. But Clarkson, a former head of what became the Toronto International Film Festival, was also careful to acknowledge that in the early running, film festivals often post fiscal losses.