Posted September 25
We are in a funny time. A time full of hope and possibilities, but also of doubts and uncertainties. A time marked by change and upheaval. Everyone navigates there as they can, according to their means.
These changes and upheavals, everyone talks about them, non-stop, on all platforms. Everyone has their opinion. And all the mixed opinions, it makes a great noise, a roar. Tinnitus, even. All opinions together, it stagnates. It divides. I’m stunned.
More than 10 years on social networks, it wears out.
Paradoxically, all this noise actually gives me a feeling of loneliness, even sadness. When everyone speaks at the same time, my stomach tightens.
Does it do that to you?
Of course, speaking up is important, but so is listening. And that’s personally what I’ve missed the most in recent years.
However, thanks to the tour of my film niagara everywhere in Quebec, I have been able to leave Montreal in recent weeks to meet you. And listen to you. It was strange to do that in parallel with a real electoral campaign, me with my film, my art, them, with their elections, their announcements.
I’m still bowled over. It made me feel less alone in all the ambient noise. It fed me a lot. It also confirmed to me that maybe I was doing the right thing with my life. It is already a lot. Thanks again. It also made me realize that I had a voice, that it was a real privilege and that I was going to do everything to use it in the right way.
A voice ! How ironic, though, for someone who prefers silence and calm!
I hope to use this voice to pass the floor to someone else, to find resonance elsewhere, to start a discussion, because I firmly believe that one idea leads to another.
I did a lot of driving during this tour and it allowed me to think. I also had the chance to go a long way with François Pérusse and Marcel Sabourin, two exceptional beings.
On the road, Marcel was drawing, nonchalantly. It was beautiful to see. I told him of my fears about the changes we are witnessing, in particular the rollback of certain rights and freedoms all over the world. He simply told me: “That’s because of our age difference. We old people have seen so much business, we come from so far away, that it could never be worse than before. Yes, there may be a setback, but it can only be temporary. We have come too far to go back. »
Wise words from an eternal optimist that touched me a lot, and above all, gave me hope.
During the tour, you and I sat quietly in a movie theater and watched a movie. Do you realize how beautiful it is, these downtimes in our lives?
I will never cease to be fascinated by cinema because it allows us collectively to dream, reflect, laugh and be moved too. Together. It is precious, especially in our time.
The process of making a feature film is extremely long, as the term says, and you only realize it when you make one, a feature film. My film, I have seen it over and over again hundreds of times. So, while it was projected, I must humbly admit that it was rather you that I was looking at. I watched you “watching a movie”. This carelessness that you had in your face, it was wonderful! I will remember it all my life.
When everyone is talking, I now act like during a film: I watch the people watching and listening. Those who are resilient and patient. Those who still dream. I know very well that these are the people who will one day have the answers to today’s challenges.