Fests invest in arthouses: Toronto and New York both bow expensive venues funded in part by year-round activities.(FALL FEST PREVIEW)(Toronto International Film Festival and the Film Society of Lincoln Center )

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It might seem like an awkward time to open a movie complex dedicated to art cinema, but that's just what two of North America's most distinguished film organizations have done in the past year.

In a time of changing movie habits, both the Toronto Intl. Film Festival and the Film Society of Lincoln Center (home to the venerable New York Film Festival) have pushed forward with multimillion-dollar exhibition projects. Snazzy new venues, decked out with the latest exhibition technologies, TIFF's Bell Lightbox and the FSLC's Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center may seem like logical moves on the part of both organizations. But they're also extremely ambitious and costly projects to sustain.

The Venice film fest is also getting into reworking its …