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.