Firmly established yet never less revolutionary, the Festival du nouveau cinéma continues the quality work it has pioneered since 1971.

For over 35 years, the Festival du nouveau cinema has contributed to the success of innumerable independent works, both local and from afar. It has introduced to audiences such Canadian and Quebec luminaries as François Girard, Atom Egoyan, Denis Villeneuve, Guy Maddin, Léa Pool, as well as international artists who have today earned worldwide acclaim, such as Jim Jarmusch, Abbas Kiarostami, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Raymond Depardon, Jane Campion, Pedro Almodovár, Wong Kar-Wai, Peter Greenaway, Chantal Akerman, Marguerite Duras...

The founders of the Festival, Claude Chamberlan and Dimitri Eipidès, known for their temerity and bold intuition, took it upon themselves to broaden the horizons of Montreal audiences by delivering original formulas for screening the image. In 1982, their audaciousness lead them to introduce and recognize video in their programming. And urged on by the support and willpower of Daniel Langlois, President of the Board from 1997 to 2005, new media earned a significant role at the heart of the Festival.

1999 Daniel Langlois offers a new home for the Festival: The Ex-Centris complex, a screening facility that offers local and international films exceptional conditions for projection and exhibition.

2001 The Festival celebrates 30 years of existence with a vast selection of works as well as the publication of a 30th anniversary commemorative book. German director Wim Wenders participates in the festivities.

2002 The FCMM (Festival international du nouveau cinéma et des nouveaux médias de Montréal) forges ahead and offers audiences a series of hommages, programmed in collaboration with the Cinémathèque québécoise, that underscore the importance of such artists as Michael Snow, Nelson Henricks, Gena Rowlands, Nicolas Philibert, Dennis Potter et Jerzy Kucia.

2003 For its 32nd installment, the FCMM succeeds once again, through a dazzling selection of works, in tapping into new trends in cinema and new media, inviting curious and enthusiastic audiences to feast on a panoply of image and sound. Over 100 artists accompany 400 works coming from more than 50 countries, more than 100 of them Canadian. 2003 also marks the year of the Werner Herzog retrospective, in collaboration with the Goethe Institut, as well as a master class with Peter Greenaway.

2004 The FCMM is rechristened the Festival du nouveau cinéma. 2004 boasts a program of 208 works from 37 countries, featuring 17 world premieres, 7 international premieres and 23 North American premieres. It also marks the inauguration of a new programming section, Temps zéro, which showcases the shifting boundaries between fiction, documentary and short film.

2005 The Festival’s 34th installment marks yet another success, both on the level of programming as well as public and critical response. Highlights include the participation of numerous high-profile guests, such as Jacques Audiard, Romain Duris, Robert Morin, Anne Fontaine, Deepa Mehta, Laurent Cantet and Louise Portal; the dynamic activities of the newly-renamed platform for professional exchange, Open Source; as well as a new configuration of festival venues to host an increasingly diversified audience.

2006 Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Festival testifies to the realized vision of Claude Chamberlan and Dimitri Eipidès, dating back to 1971, through the screening of retrospectives and a display of historical photos. 2006 inscribes itself with the presence of such eminent guests as Robert Guédiguian, Atom Egoyan and Kenneth Anger. Festival-goers bask in an electrifying atmosphere and witness the unveiling of a brand-new section of films: Focus Québec/Canada.

2007 During its most recent installment, the Festival affirms its commitment to developing high quality Quebec and Canadian programming. The Festival also offers a new home to the New Media section by forming a relationship with the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT]. Works deriving from new technologies can henceforth benefit from an environment conducive to digital production.