SAINT-SAUVEUR, Québec – (January 23, 2012) – Christie®, a global leader in digital projection and other visual display solutions, is pleased to announce that it is once again a sponsor of Ciné-Québec. It also joins the Québec cinema community in congratulating Christie customer Tom Fermanian of Cinéma Pine, who is being honored with the event’s “Coup de Chapeau” award.

Ciné Québec, a four-day cinema industry showcase and celebration to be held in Saint-Sauveur, Québec from January 24 to 27, is in its seventh year and brings together members of the Québec cinema community including actors, filmmakers, exhibitors, suppliers and distributors. This year’s event includes the screening of several new films by Québec producers, all on digital cinema projectors from Christie.

Christie is also dinner and venue sponsor. On Wednesday, January 25, “Soirée Alliance Vivafilm” will feature a dinner sponsored by Radio-Canada, cinoche.com, Coca-Cola and Christie, where the Coup de Chapeau honour will be officially awarded to Tom Fermanian.

“We’re committed to working with the Québec market, including its many independent theatres, to help them convert to digital in the most cost-effective way,” says Dave Muscat, senior director of sales for Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc. “Toward this end, we have strengthened our bilingual sales and services team with the addition of Marc Laliberté and Lance Crawford, and opened new supply depots in Montréal and Québec City to speed the delivery of critical components. As well, our sponsorship of Ciné-Québec, the premiere event for Québec’s film industry, is part of our commitment to the market.”

Jean Colbert, president of Ciné-Québec, said: “We are very pleased to once again have Christie as a sponsor. We rely on our sponsors for the success of this event and we look forward to viewing some incredible films using Christie’s digital projectors.”

Mr. Fermanian, who is receiving this year’s Coup de Chapeau award for outstanding service to the Québec cinema industry, grew up in the business, purchasing the Cinéma Pine theatres from his father in 1977. He has since been very active in the Québec film industry as a director of the Association des Proprietaires de Cinéma du Québec and member and director of the National Association of Theatre Owners. He often arranges film premieres and media events in his region.

Established in 1948 in the village of Sainte-Adèle, Cinéma Pine is the oldest continuously operated, family-owned theater business in Québec. It was the first independent in Québec and the second in Canada to use Dolby Digital surround sound.

Cinéma Pine was among the first in the province to offer digital projection through its installation of Christie CP2210 DLP Cinema® projectors. Part of the Christie Solaria™ Series, the CP2210 is the industry’s most compact Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) compliant projector available. Christie DLP Cinema® projectors are the world’s most installed cinema projectors, renowned for their brightness and reliability (see Christie Surpasses 26000 Digital Cinema Projector Milestone details).