Serge Losique
Serge Losique (1931–2026), the film professor who founded and ran the Montreal World Film Festival from 1977, fought a 2004 funding war with Telefilm Canada, survived a 2018 tax bill, and directed the festival's final edition that year.
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- Location
- Montreal, Quebec
- Country
- Canada
- Role
- Founder and director (1977–2018) of the Montreal World Film Festival
- Born
- 1931 in Yugoslavia
- Died
- September 8, 2026 in Granby, Quebec, aged 94
- Teaching
- Professor of French, then cinema, at Concordia University (formerly Sir George Williams)
- Conservatory
- Founded the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art in 1968
- Godard lectures
- Brought Jean-Luc Godard to Concordia for 14 public film-history lectures in 1978
- 2004 funding dispute
- Telefilm Canada and SODEC stripped the festival of about $1 million in annual funding over administration and transparency concerns; Losique sued
- 2018 tax dispute
- Revenu Québec pursued roughly $500,000 in back taxes; Losique paid about $33,000 so that year's festival could proceed
- Children
- Jacques, François and Anne-Marie Losique
Overview
Serge Losique, the film professor who founded the Montreal World Film Festival and ran it from 1977 until its final edition in 2018, died on September 8, 2026, at the age of 94 at Granby hospital, after several weeks of hospitalization (Cinoche.com; 7 Jours). The death was announced on September 14 by the Rugicomm agency, and no interviews were granted (7 Jours). He left three children — Jacques, François and Anne-Marie Losique — and three grandchildren, Patrick, Éric and Jinju (Cinoche.com). In Quebec’s film world he was, to the end, one of its most distinctive and most contested figures: a scholar who built a four-decade international festival, feuded for years with the government agencies that funded it, and kept it alive largely on personal determination after the money ran out (Cinoche.com; Offscreen).
From Yugoslavia to Concordia
Losique was born in Yugoslavia in 1931 and arrived in Quebec in the 1960s (Cinoche.com). He had studied literature in France and earned a doctorate in Paris, where he befriended Henri Langlois, the co-founder of the Cinémathèque française, an association that would shape his whole career (Offscreen). Settling in Montreal, he taught in the French department at Concordia University (then Sir George Williams), first French, then cinema (Cinoche.com; Offscreen).
In 1968, inspired by Langlois, he founded the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art, a university repertory cinema dedicated to introducing the great works of world film to a wide public (Cinoche.com; Offscreen). It closed its regular screenings in 1998 after accumulating an impressive archive of 16mm and 35mm prints (Offscreen). A year later, in 1969, he organized the first Canadian Student Film Festival, which was later absorbed into the World Film Festival’s programming (Offscreen).
One of his less widely remembered achievements was persuading Jean-Luc Godard to come to Montreal in 1978 to deliver a series of fourteen public lectures on film history at Concordia (Offscreen). The lectures were partly published in French in 1980 and went on to become a recognized inspiration for Godard’s mammoth video essay Histoire(s) du cinéma (Offscreen).
The festival, the funding war, and the rival that collapsed
In 1977 Losique launched the Festival des Films du Monde, the Montreal World Film Festival, driven by the same mission that animated the Conservatory: giving the general public a cinematographic education (Cinoche.com; 7 Jours). Through the 1980s and 1990s it was one of the international festival circuit’s busiest stops, rolling out red carpets on Sainte-Catherine Street for filmmakers and stars from around the world (Cinoche.com).
The break came in September 2004, when Telefilm Canada and its Quebec counterpart SODEC stripped the festival of its funding over concerns about its administration and a perceived lack of transparency in its finances (ScreenDaily). The funders had commissioned a report on the country’s major festivals from the private firm Secor; Losique and his team refused to cooperate with it, and the resulting report gave the festival poor marks (Playback). The withdrawn support amounted to about $1 million a year (Playback). Losique responded by suing Telefilm — and then by seeking, unsuccessfully, a court injunction — when the agencies awarded the money to L’Équipe Spectra, the organizer of Montreal’s jazz festival, for a brand-new international film event (ScreenDaily; Playback).
There was one more twist before the rival even opened: Losique held the legal domain to the name “Festival International de film de Montréal,” forcing the newcomer to adopt the awkward English name “New Montreal FilmFest” (Playback). The rival’s inaugural edition, which opened on September 18, 2005, played to near-empty houses, and the event was terminated in early 2006 after its first year, with reported losses of $850,000 (Playback; CBC News). Losique called publicly for an inquiry into what he termed the rival’s humiliating failure (CBC News). By 2007, with the lawsuits dropped, SODEC agreed to resume financing — at $255,000, down from $425,000 in 2004 — and Telefilm resumed contributing at $94,000, down from $425,000 (ScreenDaily).
A correction on the timeline
This rewrite corrects a significant error in the earlier version of this profile, which dated Losique’s Telefilm lawsuit and the rival festival’s collapse to 2018–2019. The funding cut, the lawsuit, and the New Montreal FilmFest’s failure all belong to 2004–2006, as the ScreenDaily and Playback reporting above shows. What actually happened in 2018–2019 was a different fight: in July 2018 Revenu Québec took Losique and the festival to court over roughly $500,000 in alleged back taxes, and Losique paid close to $33,000 toward the debt so that year’s festival could proceed as scheduled (CTV News). That 42nd edition, in August 2018, proved to be the festival’s last: both obituaries record that Losique directed the FFM from its 1977 founding through its final edition in 2018 (Cinoche.com; 7 Jours).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not assert a birth name, exact birth date, or 1965 doctorate date for Losique — those details appear in tertiary reference pages but were not verified against a source read in full. It does not resolve the disagreement between Cinoche and Offscreen over where the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art’s film collection now resides (the Cinémathèque québécoise versus Concordia University). It does not re-assert the $2.5 million figure the earlier version attached to the Telefilm lawsuit, because the CBC piece behind that figure could not be re-read (cbc.ca is blocked) and no independent source read for this rewrite states it. It does not cover the exact circumstances of the festival’s 2019 cancellation or the reported 2022 revival plan, which were not verified from full-read sources. No internal links were added: the repo contains no existing profiles for Concordia University, Telefilm Canada, the Cinémathèque française, Henri Langlois, Jean-Luc Godard, or Anne-Marie Losique, and none were forced.
Timeline
- 1931
- Born in Yugoslavia.
- 1968
- Founds the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art at Sir George Williams University in Montreal.
- 1969
- Organizes the first Canadian Student Film Festival.
- 1977
- Launches the Montreal World Film Festival.
- 1978
- Convinces Jean-Luc Godard to deliver a series of 14 public lectures on film history at Concordia University.
- 2004-09
- Telefilm Canada and SODEC strip the Montreal World Film Festival of its funding over administration and transparency concerns; Losique sues.
- 2005-09
- The Telefilm/SODEC-backed rival New Montreal FilmFest flops at its inaugural edition.
- 2006
- The rival festival is terminated after heavy losses; government funding to Losique's festival is gradually restored at reduced levels.
- 2018
- Revenu Québec pursues roughly $500,000 in back taxes; Losique pays about $33,000 so the festival's 42nd edition can proceed.
- 2018
- The 42nd edition is the Montreal World Film Festival's last.
- 2026-09-08
- Dies in Granby, Quebec, at the age of 94.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The earlier version of this profile dated Losique's Telefilm lawsuit and the rival festival's collapse to 2018–2019; the rewrite corrects this to 2004–2006. The $2.5 million figure the earlier version attached to the Telefilm lawsuit could not be re-verified today (cbc.ca is blocked) and is no longer asserted.
- Cinoche says the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art's film collection now sits largely at the Cinémathèque québécoise; Offscreen says it is owned and managed by Concordia University. The profile does not resolve the split.
- Birth details beyond 'born in Yugoslavia in 1931' (birth name, exact date) rest on tertiary leads only and are not asserted here.
- Reports of a 2022 revival plan for the festival as a 'Global Montreal Film Festival' were not verified against a source read in full and are not claimed here.
Sources
9 sources (4 tier 1, 5 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Five sources were fetched and read in full for this rewrite on 2026-10-01 (the Cinoche and 7 Jours obituaries, the Offscreen tribute, ScreenDaily's 2007 festival report, and Playback's December 2005 account of the rival festival's collapse). The 2018 tax figures and the 2004–2006 rival-festival chronology were first verified from CBC News and CTV News pieces fetched and read in full on 2026-09-04; cbc.ca was policy-blocked when this rewrite attempted to re-read them, so those claims are preserved from the earlier verified pass and the chronology correction below is stated openly. The profile's central correction: the earlier version dated Losique's Telefilm lawsuit and the rival festival's collapse to 2018–2019; independent research places the funding cut, the lawsuit, and the New Montreal FilmFest's $850,000 collapse in 2004–2006, while 2018–2019 was the tax-bill fight and the festival's final edition. No OpenAI API was used.
- Supports: Previously verified 2026-09-04: the July 2018 Revenu Québec court action over roughly $500,000 in alleged back taxes and Losique's payment of roughly $33,000 to keep that year's festival on schedule. Open original source
- New Montreal filmfest folds Tier 1Supports: Previously verified 2026-09-04: the termination of the rival New Montreal FilmFest after its first edition with reported losses of $850,000, and Losique's call for a public inquiry into its failure. Open original source
- Supports: Previously verified 2026-09-04: detail on Losique's lawsuit against Telefilm Canada over the competing festival. Open original source
- Supports: Previously verified 2026-09-04: background on the competing-festival dispute. Open original source
- Supports: Death on September 8, 2026 at 94 in Granby hospital after weeks of hospitalization; born in Yugoslavia, arrived in Quebec in the 1960s; professor of French then cinema at Concordia (then Sir George Williams); founded the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art in 1968; collection now largely at the Cinémathèque québécoise; founded the Festival des Films du Monde in 1977; heyday in the 1980s–90s; financial difficulties, funder withdrawals and personal management style in later years; kept the FFM going until its last edition in 2018; three children and three grandchildren. Open original source
- Supports: Founded the Festival des films du monde in 1977; died aged 94 at Granby hospital on September 8, 2026, announced September 14 by the Rugicomm agency; founded the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art in 1968; directed the festival from its founding through its last edition in 2018; leaves three children (Jacques, François and Anne-Marie) and three grandchildren (Patrick, Éric and Jinju). Open original source
- Serge Losique (1931–September 8, 2026): A Significant Part of Montreal Cultural History Leaves Us Tier 2Supports: Died September 8, 2026 at 94; born in Yugoslavia; studied literature and earned a doctorate in Paris, befriending Cinémathèque française co-founder Henri Langlois; taught in Concordia's French department; founded the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art in 1968, which closed regular screenings in 1998 with its archive owned and managed by Concordia; organized the first Canadian Student Film Festival in 1969, later subsumed into the World Film Festival; brought Jean-Luc Godard to Concordia for 14 public lectures in 1978, published in French in 1980 and an inspiration for Godard's Histoire(s) du cinéma; directed the World Film Festival from its 1977 inception; described as a divisive figure for his tight-fisted rule of the festival and his defense of cinema against Hollywood and TIFF. Open original source
- Supports: In September 2004 the Montreal World Film Festival was stripped of funding by Telefilm Canada and SODEC over concerns about the festival's administration and perceived lack of financial transparency; MWFF president Serge Losique responded by suing Telefilm; both agencies directed financing to the short-lived rival New Montreal FilmFest, which crashed in September 2005; SODEC resumed financing in 2007 at $255,000 (down from $425,000 in 2004) and Telefilm resumed at $94,000 (down from $425,000); festival vice-president Danielle Cauchard's public attack on Telefilm executive director Wayne Clarkson. Open original source
- Supports: The Secor report commissioned by Telefilm and SODEC, Losique's refusal to cooperate, the withdrawal of about $1 million a year in funding, the award of that funding to L'Équipe Spectra for a new festival, Losique's lawsuits and unsuccessful injunction bid, his ownership of the legal domain to the "Festival International de film de Montréal" name forcing the rival to call itself the New Montreal FilmFest, and the disastrous September 2005 inaugural edition of the rival festival. Open original source
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