Montréal, September 17, 2005 – As co-presenter and financial backer of the New Montreal Filmfest (NMFF), which will be held from September 18 to 25, 2005, Vidéotron has prepared a full program of activities to promote the event and let film buffs across the province share in the excitement.
All Vidéotron services -- cable television, Video on Demand (VoD), Internet, cable telephone and Canal VOX -- will help showcase the Filmfest by publicizing its program and spotlighting its people.
RETROSPECTIVES AND MORE ON ILLICO
Subscribers to illico Digital TV on Demand will get a full complement of cinema offerings via VoD: retrospectives on filmmakers Michel Brault, Claude Lelouch and Robin Spry, the best short films, and a selection of films nominated at other prestigious international festivals. From September 22 to 27, in an illico on Demand exclusive, subscribers will be able to watch Michel Brault's important 1963 film Pour la suite du monde, the first Québec film to join the select club of films rated 1 (masterpiece) in the Médiafilm rankings. It will be available on illico on Demand as of the day after the special screening of the film at the filmfest's Michel Brault tribute. Several other films by Brault will also be available on illico on Demand: La lutte (1961), Ozias Leduc
comme l'espace et le temps (1996), L'Acadie L'Acadie (1971), Québec – USA ou l'invasion pacifique (1962) and Les Raquetteurs (1958).
As well, the Festival will present a posthumous tribute to filmmaker Robin Spry and a retrospective of his work, including screenings of Action: The October Crisis of 1970 (1974), Flowers on a One-Way Street (1967) and Prologue (1969).
Claude Lelouch will head the jury for the first edition of the NMFF and his latest film, Le courage d'aimer, will be screened. His work will also be featured on illico on Demand: Lelouch fans will be able to order Hasards ou coïncidences (1998), Hommes, Femmes : mode d'emploi (1996), Mariage (1974), Le voleur et la menteuse (1994) and Smic Smac Smoc (1971).
Festival specials featuring red carpet reports from opening night to closing night will also be available on illico on Demand free of charge. Finally, illico subscribers will be able to watch trailers via VoD to help them pick films at the Festival.
All illico set-top boxes support VoD. Users can pause, rewind or fast forward a program or film, just like a DVD. They can stop the program and continue watching it at any time within a 24-hour period. Vidéotron customers can order the service simply by going to channel 900 and following the on-screen instructions. Vidéotron is the only distributor in its service area to provide VoD service and one of the first cable companies in North America to be able to do so, thanks to its upgraded network. Subscribers can choose from more than 1,000 titles, over 350 of which are free.
RED CARPET COVERAGE AND CHAT WITH LUC PICARD ON THE HIGH-SPEED ZONE
Subscribers to Vidéotron's High-Speed and Extreme High-Speed Internet services will be able to go to the High-Speed Zone for live red carpet coverage of the Festival's opening and closing ceremonies on September 18 and 25, no matter where they may be. They will be the first on the Web to see celebrities arriving at the Théâtre St-Denis and making their way up the red carpet to attend the marquee events. Reporter Marc Denoncourt will conduct interviews. In short, Internet star-watchers will get front-row seats.
In another eagerly anticipated event, fans will be able to chat online with well-known Québec actor Luc Picard on the High-Speed Zone from noon to 12:45 p.m., September 20. Picard's first film as a director will premiere that evening at the Festival. He also plays the male lead. Picard will discuss his interests and his directorial debut with fans.
These exclusive free services are reserved for Vidéotron High-Speed and Extreme High-Speed Internet subscribers. They can access the High-Speed Zone from videotron.com or directly at zonehautevitesse.com.
FREE NIGHTLY SCREENINGS AT THE SALLE VIDÉOTRON
At the Festival site, Vidéotron will present a classic of Québec cinema every evening at 8 p.m. from September 18 to 25. The free screenings will be held in the Salle Vidéotron (on the lower floor of the NMFF headquarters in the old Bibliothèque Saint-Sulpice building). The program includes Octobre by Pierre Falardeau (1994); Sonatine by Micheline Lanctôt (1984); La femme de l'hôtel by Léa Pool (1984); La Vraie nature de Bernadette by Gilles Carle (1972); L'Eau chaude, l'eau frette by André Forcier (1976); Le Confessionnal by Robert Lepage; Le Déclin de l'empire américain by Denys Arcand (1986) and Léolo by Jean-Claude Lauzon (1992).
DAILY REPORTS ON CANAL VOX
Canal VOX, a service developed and operated by Vidéotron, will provide regular NMFF coverage with daily reports on filmfest happenings and two special editions of Esprit Libre, the hip culture show hosted by Marc Denoncourt.
THE INFINITE POWER OF CABLE AT THE NMFF
The telecommunications services available to visitors to Festival central in the old Bibliothèque St-Sulpice building will be powered by Vidéotron, Business Division.
Vidéotron ltée (www.videotron.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services and residential telephone service. Vidéotron is a leader in new technologies with its illico interactive television system and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. Vidéotron serves 1,459,000 cable television customers in Québec; including over 411,000 illico subscribers as of August 31, 2005. Vidéotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 591,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services. Vidéotron provides residential telephone service to more than 75,000 customers in Montréal, Québec City, Laval and Montréal South Shore.
