Montreal: The psychological drama Elles etaient cinq, directed by Ghyslaine Cote (Pin-Pon) and produced by Remstar and Forum Films, will open Montreal’s 2004 World Film Festival, the fest has announced.

‘We always try to open the festival with a Quebec or France/ Quebec coproduction,’ says director of communications David Novek. ‘It’s our responsibility, and we always want to open with a film that lets the audience leave on a high. It sets the tone of the whole festival. Gaz Bar Blues did that wonderfully last year.’

The closing film, Les Choristes, is a smash hit from France by director Christophe Barratier about an unemployed music teacher (Gerard Jugnot) hired to supervise a correctional school. Novek predicts that there will be approximately 400 films at the festival again this year, including 224 feature films.

‘One of the biggest coups this year, however, is getting Isabelle Adjani here for her tribute,’ says Novek. ‘Adjani has been a guest here before. She has a core of fans all over the world and she’s the only French actress with four Cesars. She’s one of the greats, along with Katherine Hepburn and Greta Garbo.’

Adjani will be honored with a Special Grand Prix des Ameriques on Aug. 27 and a five-film retrospective, including screenings of Adolphe (2002), Camille Claudel (1988), L’Ete meurtrier (1983), L’Histoire d’Adele H. (1975) and Claude Miller’s Mortelle randonee (1983).

The festival will also salute Greek director Theo Angelopoulos (The Weeping Meadow, Ulysses’ Gaze) and has put French director Claude Zidi at the head of its jury. This year, the festival is adding a sidebar on sports films, in honor of the Olympics.

At press time, the names of the 20-odd films in competition at WFF had not yet been released.

Novek is fiercely proud of the festival, citing it as the first festival to have a recurring program of Latin American cinema and the first to have a Chinese film in competition.

‘Serge’s commitment to bringing a wide selection of films to Montreal audiences is still the same… This isn’t a festival where you get junkets of stars for American premieres just to get stars,’ says Novek. ‘We get more ‘festival’ films than ‘popular’ films. We also used to get films that were slated for a Labour Day release, but release patterns have changed a bit so there isn’t the same kind of focus on Labour Day as in earlier days.’

Novek, who was WFF’s director of communications from 1977 to 1989, has returned to helm its press office for the 28th edition and, since, has been flooded with congratulatory e-mails from journos from as far away as Africa, Iran, Israel, Italy and Japan.

The WFF and its press-shy president Serge Losique have a famously terse relationship with the media, which has probably affected the festival’s coverage and ability to reach the public. With Novek back, a friendlier face could lead to a better-than-average year for the WFF.

‘I’ve got 13 festivals under my belt, including the first one in 1977. This means I have a special and easy relationship with Serge Losique,’ says Novek. ‘Serge is a very charming and warm man in small groups. For example, he’s a great host at a dinner party, but he likes to do things his way. He learned that style while working in Paris under Henri Langlois, the legendary [archivist] at the Cinematheque Francais.’

-www.ffm-montreal.org