WORLD FILM FESTIVAL - MONTREAL 1997

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT
THE MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL:

The Hollywood Reporter: "The Montreal World Film Festival is North America's most cosmopolitan event."
Barbara & Scott Siegel, Entertainment Syndicate: " The best way to judge the critical success of a film festival isn't during the ephemeral time of its existence or just after its cinematic swirl has ended. The ideal time to consider the real impact of a film festival is at the end of the year, by which time the ripest fruits of the festival start falling to the general public. By this standard and by several others, the Montreal World Film Festival must be considered North America's most influential festival of 1996 - and therefore its best."
Moving Pictures: "Montreal's North America's only accredited "A" category film festival, is a doorway into the English-speaking market for European, south American and Asian sales companies."
David Letterman Late Show: David Letterman: "What are the better film festivals?"
Roger Ebert: "There is Cannes, Montreal in North America."
The New York Times: "Montreal lays on a feast of cinema, bigger than ever."
Variety: "A first time visitor is frankly amazed by the enthusiasm evidenced among a cross-section of international film professionals - performers, directors, writers, producers - and Canadian ranging from film buffs to ordinary filmgoers enjoying an opportunity to gorge themselves."
The Montreal Gazette: "It's a special audience at the Montreal World Film Festival -- an audience that'll kill you if you talk during the movies, even during opening or end credits. They will applaud great cinematic moments and never, ever unwrap candies in the quiet parts."
Ray Conlogue, The Globe and Mail: "Brian de Palma said he had come to Montreal purely for the pleasure of watching good movies... There is little doubt he has come to the right place."
Tim Rhys, Moviemaker: " I was lucky enough to get back to Montreal when it seemed like the entire city was celebrating the Montreal World Film Festival... Film festivals, and especially those like Montreal are our best chance for a dose of oxygen to broaden our cinematic horizons... One of the best ways to experience Montreal is to attend the World Film Festival, see a few great movies by day and enjoy the city by night. That's what I plan to do again next year."
John Schlesinger, filmmaker: "Montreal is in a class of its own, it's really a big international film festival."
Brandon Judell for Critic's Choice on America Online: "The Montreal World Film Festival will again have films that cause people to react to cinema with feeling and not with just their butts on a seat. With over 400 offerings from 63 countries, the odds are quite good. Billed as "the largest publicly attended film festival in the world", the celluloid feast attracted over 300,000 film buffs, many lining up for a screening as early as 9:00am. What draws such enthusiastic crowds? Features, many of which without Montreal's support, would never be shown in North America."
Susan Green, Vermont's Voice of Arts and Culture: "With 400 films from 63 nations, this event delves into an astonishing array of distant cultures as well as the complex interior landscapes of various characters. Unlike Saturday night at the local multiplex, there is a sense of adventure and discovery."
Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel, film critics, USA: "Films from all over the world filled a dozen different movie theaters that were in constant use every day from 9 am through late evening. The foolish among us who tried to see everything, while also attending press conferences, parties and late night schmooze sessions at the headquarters hotel bar, were bound to end up as zombies. Happily, however, the festival was (once again) so popular that we were constantly surrounded by other bloodshot-eyed, caffeine addicted crazies, both local and international. To suggest the number of movie-maniacs racing from screening to screening, consider the fact that more than 300,000 persons went to see films. If nothing else, those numbers reconfirm Montreal's status as a top-draw film festival."
Harry Rasky, filmmaker: "I started coming here 15 years ago when I brought my film on Arthur Miller. I discovered how totally serious the audience was. They filled the theater three times. The film won a top award. I felt like Fellini or Ingmar Begman - a revelation. So, every year, for 15 years now, I show my stuff here."
Bill Browstein, The Gazette: "Byerley may be the most bleary-eyed person at the Festival. He evaluates films for American pay-TV giant HBO. A 15-year old veteran of the Montreal film festival, Jim Byerly concurs that this year's market is more active than ever. "I have seen a lot of stuff with potential, but what I really love about this festival is that I catch up on the best stuff happening in the world, and there is no kicking, punching or shoving."
Movie/TV Marketing, Tokyo: "What is the special charm of the Montreal World Film Festival? What words describe it best after almost 20 years of huge international success? Sophisticated? Smooth? European? Cosmopolitan? Relaxed? All of these? Without the frantic panic and push of other events, but calmly and competently, the Festival once again presented over 400 films from 63 countries - 20 in international competition - and a dazzling group of stars and functions. Plenty of theaters, with seats at a fair price and a smoothly run operation, made attending easy and comfortable. But there is something more - and that is Montreal itself. The Festival is an integral part of the city; it is impossible to imagine one without the other. It belongs, along with splendid museums and galleries, jazz concerts and innovative theatre, in the thriving intellectual life of a city quite unlike any other in Canada, or the world."

� Montreal World Film Festival, [email protected], Fax: (514) 848-3886, Tel.: (514) 848-3883