Telefilm Canada has tapped board member Felix Fraser as its interim chair, filling in for outgoing Charles Bélanger, whose five-year term comes to an end on Feb. 18.

Bélanger’s time atop the federal agency was marked by efforts to increase the box-office appeal of domestic films and its spat with the World Film Festival in Montreal, which led to Telefilm’s backing of the short-lived New Montreal FilmFest in 2005.

‘I hope that I have helped to align Telefilm’s corporate culture more closely with the ‘real world’,’ said Bélanger in a statement, ‘with audiences, clients, business partners and the agency itself.’

Telefilm is currently searching for a permanent replacement.