Heroes of the North

I stumbled on the trailer of this upcoming movie. Please help me out. This is a joke right?... right?

Québécois cinema is too white - Part 2

When it comes to criticism, the Québécois are a sensitive bunch. Especially when... well... a non pure laine voices that criticism. I gather you could compare it to a friend taking a shot at a member of your own family... unwelcome, even when true.

Jacob Tierney's recent words about Québécois cinema being too white raised many voices. Most reactions built on the fact that the Québécois represent only 2% of a predominantly English speaking North American population and were thus entitled to a cinema exclusively about themselves. I don't subscribe to that line of thought. It simply removes oneself from any type of forward dialog.

So... when I stumbled on a very articulate letter in the pages of La Presse about how wrong Mr. Tierney simply was, I was pleasantly surprised. When I realized this response was from a new-stock Québécois who felt compelled to react, I was delighted.

Click here [Google translation] to read it.

Québécois cinema is too white

Jacob Tierney is the director and screenwriter of The Trotsky. The action takes place in the Anglo part of Montréal. The movie has received considerable coverage from the French press and media; click here to listen to an interview on Radio-Canada [in French only - I love the way Jacob's father tells a listener he's colonized because he feels the French dubbed version is too Québécois]. I haven't seen the movie yet, but it's been in my list of flicks to see since I saw a trailer early this Spring.

Mr. Tierney is in Los Angeles to promote the premiere of his film. In an interview with La Presse [Google translation], he stressed that that mainstream franco cinema here all-too-often ignores Anglos, Immigrants and most anyone who isn't old-stock Francophone. You can read about it in The Gazette.

I'm always a bit surprised when I read that type of comment. The homegrown shows I watch on TV usually have their share of non pure laine characters. In L'Auberge du chien noir, for example, there's a gay guy, a Latina, an Haitian and an Anglo played by Jonathan Lajoie (check out his videos on Youtube.com, he's hilarious!). And all these characters look like regular people living their regular life, no caricature here.

Still... I live in a country with a French speaking community that accounts for almost a quarter of its population. I watch its television, its cinema... I read its news... and I can't identify with them very much. I know exactly how Mr. Tierney feels.

Canada Day in Québec

In Québec, Canada Day is a Holiday for the few; the majority of Québécois celebrated its joie de vivre last Thursday. La Presse is probably the most federalist of the province's French newspapers. To underline today's holiday, it invited its readers to share what their plans were for Canada Day.

Click here [Google translation] to read it.