I spent my freshman year at the University of British Columbia. I was a Montrealer but I wanted to experience a different part of Canada. However, Montreal beckoned me back and I attended McGill for the remaining three years of my undergraduate studies. For the first two years I lived at home and for my final year I lived at Royal Victoria College, after my family moved to New York.
Many aspects of my McGill experience stand out. I was trying to find my place in the world and was drawn to social issues. Montreal was going through radical change in the early '60s and it was interesting to engage in the political conversations at McGill. My experiences with political activism laid the foundation for my future involvement in organizations promoting diversity and equality. Also, with guidance from my excellent art and literature professors, I learned to look at things from new perspectives – ones that translated into my later career in film exhibition and curation.
I loved Montreal for its liveliness and multicultural ambiance, and I still have very strong feelings for the city. Looking back, I realize that Sherbrooke Street could serve as a metaphor to reflect the different phases of my life and studies and the diversity of my experiences.
Just east of Royal Victoria College (RVC) on Sherbrooke was an after-hours club, l’Asociacion Espagnol, which was frequented by beatniks, artists and filmmakers. In the corner, there were two flamenco dancers tapping away while the rest of us sat around tiny tables drinking and yelling in French and English. It was very lively. Going west was RVC, my home, with the giant statue of Queen Victoria glowering down at us. Although living in a dormitory didn't suit me very well, I made some great friends there.
Just west of campus along Sherbrooke Street was the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where I would have lunch with my grandmothers. Around the corner, on Mountain, was a bistro – Chez LouLou des Bacchantes – where I met some of Montreal’s artists and authors: Armand Vaillancourt, Leonard Cohen, Vittorio Fiorucci and François Dallegret. I spent a great deal of time there following graduation giving freelance advice to the lovelorn!
My career in film was shaped by the fact that as children, Quebec decreed that we were not allowed to set foot in a cinema until age 18. Movie theatres represented a forbidden paradise of mythic proportion. When I arrived at McGill and was finally allowed to go to the cinema, films became my obsession and I found myself hanging out with others who shared my interest. There were wonderful films being made in Quebec at that time by Claude Jutras, Gilles Carle and others.
Montreal had film festivals that attracted top European directors – Truffaut and Buñuel and Godard – who appreciated the connoisseurship of Montreal audiences. There was a ratty movie theater on Ste. Catherine Street that would show triple features ranging from John Ford Westerns to small films from Mozambique and historical epics from Poland. I also remember fondly a small art house with small screening rooms named Salle Jean Vigo and Salle Alain Resnais. My little group of passionate film buffs would attend screenings like hungry fiends, and spend hours discussing them.
I knew I wanted to be close to creative people, not because I thought their talent would rub off on me, but because I wanted to help them exhibit their work and live somewhat in their world. Creativity inspired me. There’s a book that attracted me called The Creative Process: Reflections on the Invention in the Arts and Sciences by Brewster Ghiselin. It’s a compilation of essays including ones by Mozart, Einstein, William Wordsworth and Gertrude Stein. It fascinated me and was the subject of my final essay at McGill. In retrospect I believe that fascination evolved from my conversations with my dear Aunt Jessie Ogilvie. She worked at the McCord Museum and talked to me about aesthetics and how one gains the ability to critically evaluate and enjoy all the arts. I wondered where those gifts come from and why it blesses some people and not others. She taught me that you can learn how to appreciate it, how to absorb it, and understand how it fits into our society. She was a really important influence in my life.
For students interested in pursuing a career in film, I suggest keeping your mind open, remaining curious, and looking under rocks where you wouldn't imagine finding anything – because that’s where the treasures are. Don’t panic if you don’t yet know; just keep looking. You have time to learn about the world and then put it down on film.