For those caught up in the TIFF frenzy, cinephiles and TIFF enthusiasts alike may have missed The Necessities of Life, which was the audience favourite at the Montreal World Film Festival.

Ce qu’il faut pour vivre or The Necessities of Life was named the most popular film at the festival, an award voted on by the audience and the most popular Canadian film. The film won a special Grand Jury Prize.

Ce qu’il faut pour vivre or The Necessities of Life is by Quebec filmmaker Benoît Pilon. His film, set in the 1950s, is about an Inuit man who is flown to a Quebec hospital to recover from tuberculosis. While there, the Inuit man meets a young Inuit boy and the film explores their relationship in adjusting to non-traditional Inuit life.

Another Canadian winner was Jean-François Lévesque, whose NFB short Le Noeud Cravate (The Necktie) won best short film and best Canadian short film.

A Japanese film, Okuribito, by director Yojiro Takita, won the top prize.

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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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