Cinema Canada (Mar-Apr 1975)

Following discussion the film board union supported the actions of its executive and of the A.R.F.Q. without a single dissenting vote. Friday December 6th gave the public its chance to join the film makers. A huge krieg-light-lit march down St. Catherine street was followed by speeches and a whole night of Québec cinema on television on channel 9. Several hundred (some say thousand) placard-carrying demonstrators walked slowly through the centre of Montréal, chanting, singing, and as always giving out pamphlets. The march stopped outside every American theatre on the way to explain what was going on and why to theatre patrons and myriads of Christmas shoppers. Outside Place des Arts it came to end with four brief speeches from representatives from the four key organisations. Although most dispersed to participate in the night of Québec film, or to watch it on television, it is rumoured that a number of the demostrators sneaked back to one or other of the American theatres under attack and caught the last show of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” or whatever else was playing. Most thought that that was the end of the public actions for 1974 but there was another final flurry before it all succumbed to Christmas. The artisans of Québec, who were having their annual Salon des Métiers d’Arts at Place Bonaventure donated a booth to the film makers as a gesture of solidarity. Cameras and editing equipment were set up and film makers manned the booth. On Sunday December 8th, unaware that the film makers were at the Salon, the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Denis Hardy, came down to put his official stamp of approval on the financially uninteresting (from an industrial point of view) handicrafts. The film makers knew he was coming and Hardy found that he was to get to meet them after all. A heated encounter took place, well covered by the media. After fifteen minutes of attack and counter attack, Hardy left angrily saying, “Think what you like, I am going to continue to draw up the law which I think is best for Québec cinema.” Since this last outburst of mutual confidence things have been quiet. December 23rd has rolled past without any film law being tabled. But several committees of film makers were hard at work over Christmas and new plans, new actions, are on the way. Perhaps this time the Québec government will keep its promise. Perhaps if it does the rest of Canada will follow suit and at long last we will have useful film legislation and a solid film industry capable of making and distributing excellent films. Here’s hoping, but Variety with its own special sense of the bon mot, with its own precise idea of how things work, was not too encouraging. They headlined a factual article on the sit-in with: ‘“‘Directors’ Sit-In Only Succeeds In Delaying Holiday Needs.”’ For “holiday needs” read Santa’s annual gift of millions of dollars from Canadian moviegoers to the American conglomerates. Dollars which will be used to make more American films which will, in turn, fill theatres here and the whole cycle will be repeated. Parties in power, some of whom are suspected by people with nasty minds of receiving some of those same profit dollars, may see it all as Catch-22. But there is an easy answer which has been used by every other “developed’”’ country in the world — legislation. Only legislation will stop this farce which has lasted for decades. Only legislation will make possible our own film industry. C Robin Spry isa director at the National Film Board. His most recent film was the documentary film, “Action”, concerning the October Crisis. Cinema Canada 43