Montreal festival snuffs killer film

By Norma Reveler and Etan Vlessing

MONTREAL (Hollywood Reporter) – Bowing to pressure from
anxious sponsors, the Montreal World Film Festival on Wednesday
pulled a controversial Hollywood movie about an infamous
Canadian schoolgirl killer from its upcoming lineup.

“Karla,” starring Laura Prepon (“That ’70s Show”) as Karla
Homolka, Canada’s most notorious serial killer, was scheduled
to receive a special screening during the Aug. 26-Sept. 5
event.

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

According to the Montreal festival Web site, private-sector
sponsors include Air Canada, Visa, Universal Studios, Warner
Bros., Kodak and Montreal’s tourism office.

Tim Danson, a lawyer for the families of Homolka’s murder
victims, had threatened to seek a legal injunction against the
screening.

The producers of “Karla,” which also stars Misha Collins
(“24″) as her husband, Paul Bernardo, had looked to Montreal as
a launchpad for a fall theatrical release here.

Earlier plans to release “Karla” in Ontario were postponed
after a public outcry in the province where Homolka and
Bernardo committed their crimes.

During the early 1990s, Homolka and Bernardo tortured and
murdered two Ontario schoolgirls in a case that gathered
international attention because the rapes of the young women
were captured on video.

Montreal festival founder and head Serge Losique defended
his programing of “Karla” by arguing that “notorious criminals”
from Hitler to the Boston Strangler had been portrayed in film.

Homolka recently was released from prison in Quebec after
serving 12 years as part of a controversial plea-bargain
agreement.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter