As it marks its 39th year, the Montreal World Film Festival mirrors the tenacious, even pugnacious spirit of its founder and director, Serge Losique. Launched in 1977, the Montreal fest was conceived as an alternative to the Venice Film Festival, which had been sidelined over political strife for most of the preceding decade. Losique, well connected in the international film community, says he was pressured by MPAA head Jack Valenti and European producers to make Montreal the home of a competitive fall festival. “I didn’t like the idea,” Losique remembers, saying his loyalties were with the local film conservatory and overseeing the Canadian Student Film Festival, the oldest fest in the country.

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