The Montreal World Film Festival has cancelled plans to screen the controversial film Karla after sponsors threatened to withdraw funds.

The festival had previously announced plans to host the Canadian premiere of the Karla Homolka/Paul Bernardo bio-pic.

“Half a dozen sponsors were going to pull their money,” said a source who had spoken to festival president Serge Losique. The most notable pressure came from Air Canada, as is being reported by The Globe and Mail.

“Air Canada informed the [Montreal World Film Festival] last week that it is cancelling its sponsorship of the event as a result of the festival’s decision to screen Karla,” Duncan Dee, a senior vice-president at Air Canada, said in an email to Marsha Boulton, the wife of Stephen Williams, author of two books about the Homolka-Bernardo case.

“In light of the reaction to its proposed showing of the film Karla, and the discomfort expressed by clients of its sponsors, MWFF organisers have decided against presenting the film,” organizers said Wednesday in a statement.

The festival runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5.

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A controversial film about the sex slayings committed by Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo will premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival, the festival announced Monday.

The American film will be screened between August 26 and September 5 and has already motivated several protests. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has even encouraged people to boycott the film.

The movie, previously titled “Deadly”, has been renamed “Karla”.

“The purpose of the director Joel Bender is an extreme close-up of Karla Homolka and her role as half of Canada’s most infamous couple,” the festival said in a statement. “How could a woman be so much in love with a man that she became an accomplice in a series of horrific murders?”

Laura Prepon, Donna of “That 70′s Show”, plays Homolka, while Misha Collins, of the TV show “24″, portrays Bernardo.

The $5-million film was to have been released in late June, to coincide with Homolka’s release from a Montreal area prison on July 5. After public outcry, the film’s producer, Michael Sellers, announced the release date would be pushed back to the fall.

“Karla coming out must be difficult for (the families),” says Sellers. “Having to deal with this (screening) at the same time as dealing with that … I just feel like we shouldn’t do it unless we really have a need to.”

However, Sellers still stands by the film, pointing out that Hollywood churns out acclaimed true crime films – most recently the Oscar-winning “Monster” about serial killer Aileen Wuornos.

“I’m not saying we weren’t aware there would be controversy,” he told CTV in March. “But we have made a legitimate film.”

Homolka was sentenced in 1993 to 12 years in prison for the murders of Ontario schoolgirls Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French and her role in the death of her sister, Tammy Homolka.

Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 and has been declared a dangerous offender.

Homolka is currently living in anonymity on the island of Montreal.

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