The Festival du nouveau cinéma runs until October 18: turn one screening into an easy plan

Verified: 2026-10-12. Dates, venues and prices below come from the festival’s official pages and dated press. Check each screening’s page before you go.

Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) is in full swing. Its 55th edition opened on Thursday, October 8 at the Monument-National, and it runs until Sunday, October 18, with nearly 200 works from more than 30 countries, as L’initiative reported on October 8.

That leaves one full week. And a film festival happens to be one of the easiest plans to propose to someone, whether it’s a friend you keep meaning to see, a coworker, or someone you’ve only met once.

What’s happening this week

• When: until Sunday, October 18, 2026.
• Where: screenings and events are spread across the Monument-National, the Cineplex Odéon Quartier Latin, Concordia’s SGWUA auditorium, the Cinémathèque québécoise and the Agora du Cœur des sciences at UQAM, among others (L’initiative, Oct. 8).
• Tickets: on the official ticketing page, a single ticket is $16, or $14 if you’re 30 or under. Ticketing is digital, and there’s an in-person ticket counter at the Cineplex Odéon Quartier Latin (350 Émery Street) from 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. All sales are final.
• One date to circle: on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:45 p.m., the festival honours Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, then screens his film The Sweet Hereafter (1997, in English with French subtitles), followed by a Q&A with the director, at the Cineplex Quartier Latin (film page). The festival recommends it for ages 13 and up.

The festival describes itself this way in its 2026 program: “Share an encounter, a discussion, an evening. Because the FNC is as much about what happens on screen as what unfolds around it.” (Our translation from the official program.) That’s a pretty good description of why a screening works as a plan.

Why a film is an easy plan

This part is our take, not a study. A movie takes most of the pressure off a meetup:

• Nobody has to carry the conversation. For about 90 minutes, you’re both just watching.
• You get a built-in topic. Afterwards, “so, what did you think?” is all it takes to get talking.
• It has a clear start and end time. Everyone knows what they’re signing up for, which makes saying yes easier.
• It’s a festival, so it feels like an occasion. You’re not just “catching up”; you’re trying something.

A small plan for this week, in four steps

1. Pick one screening, not a whole schedule. Browse the festival calendar and choose a single session that fits your week. Check the film’s page for its language and subtitles before you invite anyone.
2. Add a short “after.” Plan 20 to 30 minutes for a coffee or a walk near the venue once the credits roll. That’s where the actual hanging out happens, and it’s short enough that nobody feels trapped.
3. Send one specific invite. “I’m going to [film] on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Quartier Latin, want to come? Coffee after if you’re up for it.” beats “we should see a movie sometime.”
4. Keep the budget low. If you’re 30 or under, tickets are $14. Going with a few people? The festival’s 6-ticket book costs $75, and you can use several of its tickets for the same screening, which works out to $12.50 a seat (official prices; opening and closing screenings excluded).

Going alone works too

Going to a screening on your own is a perfectly good way to spend an evening. If you’d like it to be a little more social, stay for the Q&A when there is one, or let one or two people know which session you’re picking: “I’ll be at the 7 p.m. show, join if you feel like it.” If nobody comes, you still saw a good film.

Keep it comfortable

If you’re meeting someone new, the usual basics apply: a public place (a cinema is about as public as it gets), a clear time frame, and a few messages exchanged beforehand. If the evening goes well, the next plan is easy to suggest: another screening before Sunday.

Where ImIn fits in

ImIn is an iOS app for discovering, creating and joining in-person activities near you, starting in Montreal. You can post a plan like “FNC screening + coffee after” with a date, time and place, so others can join, or join plans other people have created. To be clear: the screenings above are an idea for your week; they only show up in ImIn if someone creates a plan for them. ImIn doesn’t guarantee new friends; it just makes it easier to turn an idea into a real date on the calendar.

This week’s small step: pick one FNC screening before Sunday, October 18, and invite one person, or open it up on ImIn.

Want to create or join a local plan? Discover ImIn or get the app on the App Store.

Sources: L’initiative, “The 55th edition of the Festival du nouveau cinéma begins tomorrow,” October 8, 2026; Festival du nouveau cinéma, official ticketing, calendar, film page for The Sweet Hereafter and 2026 program, consulted October 12, 2026.