MONTREAL — Two documentaries, La mémoire des anges and RiP: A remix manifesto were recognized for their excellence at the ever-expanding 37th annual Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal, which wrapped Sunday night and drew more than 143,000 cinephiles to its various events throughout dowtown Montreal.

Luc Bourdon’s moving black-and-white portrait of Montreal based exclusively on archival footage, La mémoire des anges (National Film Board), picked up the Grand Prix in the all-Canadian Focus section, and RiP: A remix manifesto (NFB/EyeSteelFilms), a groundbreaking film about Internet copyright, was awarded an honorable mention.

Billed as a cinephile’s festival, FNC reached the previous year’s total box office by last Thursday, says festival director Nicolas Girard Deltruc, who estimates that ticket sales for the 11-day event will be up 10% over last year.

Deltruc believes his festival is unique because there is a strong connection between creators and the audience. ‘It’s not a major industry event, so there is wonderful interaction between the visiting directors and the public. We had many amazing moments with Wim Wenders and John Boorman,’ he says.

The prize for best feature film was handed to Sergey Dvortsevoy’s Tulpan (Kazakhstan/Germany) the tale of a young herdsman in Kazakhstan who is trying to find a wife. Snow (Bosnia-Herzegovina/Germany/Iran/France), a film about six women, an old man and four little girls who live in an isolated Bosnian village devestated by war, was awarded an honorable mention.

Despite this year’s success, Deltruc is concerned about the future. The FNC has formed a coalition with other festivals across Canada and Quebec — the Coalition des festivals — to lobby the government to maintain their funding.

‘Things are going well. But the current situation is very worrying,’ he says. ‘We provide homegrown filmmakers with a chance to promote their films. So cutting our budget has a direct impact on the Quebec and Canadian industry. Without us it would be hard for them to get visibility.’