Four groups vying for Telefilm Canada and SODEC funds to host a Montreal-based international film festival will have to wait longer than expected to find out who among them will become the recipient of $1 million previously earmarked for Serge Losique’s Montreal World Film Festival.

Submissions from Just For Laughs Festival; Vision Globale; an industry group led by Spectra; and the Festival du Nouveau Cinema were accepted in September, with a decision expected in October. But on Oct. 30, the agencies turned down all four bids in their current form and have requested that applicants resubmit by Dec. 1.

The proposals do not need major reworking, according to Telefilm chair Charles Belanger. They were of high quality, but lacked some key pieces of information in areas such as budget and audience reach.

‘All of them were incomplete, some more than others, but at the end of the day there was a lot of quality material on the table,’ he says.

While Telefilm and SODEC will only accept revamped versions of applications already submitted and will not hear from any newcomers, the Just For Laughs festival and Vision Globale, which currently runs Montreal’s Fantasia festival, have decided to join forces and submit a new joint proposal for a festival that draws on the comedy strengths of Just For Laughs and the fantasy, Asian and action themes of Fantasia.

Belanger says the decision, which he expects to come within days of the Dec. 1 deadline, is an important one because he believes support from Telefilm and SODEC are essential for a successful international film festival in Montreal.

At the end of this year’s WFF, Losique, who founded the festival nearly 30 years ago, announced that WFF 2005 will go forward Aug. 25 to Sept. 5, and WFF director of communications David Novek confirms the festival is actively planning for next year’s event. Belanger, however, says he is confident there will be only one major international film festival in Montreal next year, and that it will be the one Telefilm and SODEC choose to support in December.

‘We would have liked the WFF to participate in this new venture, but they declined,’ says Belanger. ‘[Telefilm and SODEC funds make] an important contribution not only in terms of money, but in terms of logistics and general support. So without presuming that other events may not succeed, I think federal and provincial support is key for a successful event.’

Yet it’s business as usual at the WFF, according to Novek, who says the festival’s funding efforts will go forward as always.

‘The [WFF] has existed for 28 years and we’re coming back next year,’ he says.

However, WFF 2005 would have to do without the 15% to 20% of its budget that SODEC and Telefilm grants have provided for more than 20 years. In 2004, WFF received $525,000 from Telefilm and $425,000 from SODEC, levels of support that Belanger says have been stable for the last few years.

Tension between Telefilm, SODEC and WFF came to a head in September just days after WFF 2004 wrapped, when the agencies announced their intention to seek out a new recipient for the funds. The decision came in the wake of a July study of Canada’s major film festivals, with which WFF refused to cooperate. While the study noted WFF’s broad cultural diversity, it criticized the festival for lacking transparency with public funds, strained relationships with the film community and falling attendance.

-www.ffm-montreal.org