“I’m waiting too much,” he says. Jacques Foisy even sees a “lack of interest in cultural life” on the part of Sherbrooke’s elected officials. According to him, the City is “treating the project lightly.”
A project that does not require any public funds, he recalls. The Cinémathèque de l’Estrie would be entirely financed by philanthropic funds raised in recent years. “Why is the city of Sherbrooke putting obstacles in our way,” he wonders.
Jacques Foisy had first considered redeveloping the nave of Plymouth-Trinity Church for his film library. (Jessica Garneau, La Tribune Archives)
In 2022, Jacques Foisy announced his wish to set up a film library in the Plymouth-Trinity United Church, at the corner of Dufferin and Montreal streets. The project was aborted the following year, after the purchase-sale promise signed between the businessman and the president of the board of directors of the place of worship was suspended.
A decision taken by mutual agreement when the City attributed an “exceptional” heritage value to the neo-Greek church built in 1871. “As a result, the land could no longer be developed other than as it is currently,” explains Jacques Foisy .
“It would take millions to upgrade everything and bring everything back to the Building Code. It just didn’t work anymore,” said the municipal councilor of the Lac-des-Nations district, Raïs Kibonge. “We continue to work on a up creative with other partners. […] We are still trying to push the project forward,” he adds.
A new targeted location
The obstacles encountered did not prevent Jacques Foisy from continuing his efforts. “That does not prevent us from continuing to see if buildings become available and would allow the establishment,” he emphasizes.
He also says he is waiting for an opinion from the City on available premises that could accommodate his film library. It involves renovating the existing building rather than building a new one, explains the businessman.
Without wanting to give more details, Jacques Foisy indicates that the targeted building is located in downtown Sherbrooke within the quadrilateral delimited by Belvédère, Galt and Terrill streets and the Saint-François River.
His request sent several weeks ago, he says, still remains unanswered. “We would like the mayor to get involved.”
Raïs Kibonge, councilor for the Nations district, however, mentions not having had any news of the film library project since the abandonment of the development in the Plymouth-Trinity church. But he emphasizes that the City will analyze the file.
“We are trying to push for an interesting cultural offering in the city center. After that, we also have to grapple with the fact that we have a lot of heritage buildings that need to be repaired. We can’t do anything,” he explains.
An “extraordinary gift” for Sherbrooke
There are three of them leading the film library project. In addition to a partner who prefers to remain anonymous for the moment, Jacques Foisy also collaborates with the former director of the Cultural Center of the University of Sherbrooke, André Lachance.
More than ten years after selling La Maison du cinéma, Jacques Foisy wants to develop the Cinémathèque de l’Estrie in downtown Sherbrooke. (La Tribune, Jessica Garneau/La Tribune, Jessica Garneau)
Even if the years go by and businessmen have still not found a storefront, the concept continues to materialize. “Sherbrooke would be the first city in Quebec outside of Montreal to have a cinema library. It’s an extraordinary gift given to cinema lovers,” says Jacques Foisy.
The initial vision remains: films from yesterday to today will be screened.
“A film library will present the best films from all countries in the world and the best films from all eras and genres.”
— Jacques Foisy
A proposed agreement with the Cinémathèque québécoise in Montreal is taking shape, he confirms. If the Cinémathèque de l’Estrie sees the light of day, part of the programming from the member institution of the International Federation of Film Archives could be broadcast in downtown Sherbrooke.
“We began to have serious negotiations to have a collaboration with the Cinémathèque québécoise,” assures the instigator of the film project.
“The goal is not to exploit films as premieres. It is to exploit films most of which have already been released, and films which come from countries which are not broadcast in commercial cinemas,” he hears.
