The Montreal World Film Festival has been plunged into crisis after a the City of Montreal, Quebec cultural funding body SODEC and federal cultural agency Telefilm announced they are to withdraw their money - worth more than £327,000 - for the festival's 2014 edition.
Unsettled by the development, Regroupement des distributeurs indépendants de films du Québec announced it would not send any films to this year's festival without reassurances from the event's chiefs.
President of the umbrella distributor that represents independent, smaller films, Andrew Noble, said: "We know they've lost major sponsors and their public funding. For us to put our films into that reality becomes very, very difficult.”
Montreal newspaper Le Devoir is reporting that the festival owes around $2.5 million (£1.3 million) and is prepared to mortgage - or possibly even sell - the Imperial Theatre (built in 1913) in order to solve the debt crisis.
The festival, which takes place from August 21 to September 1, falls immediately before Toronto Film Festival, which begins on September 4, like many festivals in the key autumn period has increasingly suffered from the shadow that the larger event casts, as it is now seen as the critical launchpad for distributors.
The organisers, however, insist the latest edition will go ahead as planned: "The 38th edition will be a quality edition with a rich and varied selection of films, as in the past.”
