Festival International du Film sur l'art (FIFA)

Description

Created in 1981 under the aegis of UNESCO's International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication and sponsored by the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, FIFA became an independent organization in 1983 with its own Board of Directors. Extending over five days, the 1st FIFA screened 50 films from 12 countries in a single theatre, the Cinémathèque québécoise. Beginning with its 21st edition in 2003, FIFA added 5 extra days to its schedule, making it a 10-day event. For its 25th anniversary in 2007, more than 280 films from 25 countries were presented in eight theatres: the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée d'art contemporain, the Grande Bibliothèque, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the Cinémathèque québécoise, the NFB Cinema, the Goethe-Institut and the Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts. Firmly established within the province's distribution network, FIFA also has an international presence, with tours of its prize-winning films in such cities as Paris, Tourcoing (France), Boston, St-Louis, New York and Washington. In an effort to broaden its range of subjects, FIFA introduces films devoted to several new genres: mime, circus arts, tattooing and comics. The sizeable increase in attendance is testimony to both the growing interest for artistic films in a multidisciplinary market, and to Montreal's role as the cinematic hub of Canada.