Latin America Film Festival 2008

March 19, 2008

A WONDERFUL GIFT!

I would first like to say that as a filmmaker, and also as the husband and special collaborator of the Governor General of Canada, I am pleased and honoured to preside over this Latin American Film Festival. This is a unique event because, in a way, its programme reflects the choices of the ambassadors of the various countries concerned which are posted here in Ottawa. What a wonderful way to cultivate diplomacy on a human scale!

Bravo! You represent the first meaning of the word “embassy,” which evokes images of encounters, exchanges, dialogue between cultures, respect for others and diversity, all while making your own voice heard. It is no doubt in this sense that my wife committed herself to “breaking down solitudes” during her installation speech as governor general.

And we have put our words into action by affording more space to art and culture. A few examples of this would be the annual Governor General awards in various artistic disciplines, Art Matters—a national network for reflection that brings together creators, researches and decision makers—and the dialogue we have begun with youth from the urban arts scene. And I think the Latin American Film Festival was conceived in this same spirit.

I am very impressed with the programme, a real mix of films from Peru, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Columbia, Cuba, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, Panama . . .

This is the gift you have presented us and we thank you for it. For me, films are a journey through three realms: geography, society and humanity’s memory. Films are a unique form of self-expression, a way of opening oneself up to dialogue with others. They are also a means of expressing the specific and the universal, the personal and the collective.

At a time when Canada is promoting the development of relationships with Latin America, this festival is a powerful reminder that cinema is an excellent means of opening dialogue and of provoking debate by combining aesthetics, the quest for knowledge and the joy of discovery. What a wonderful way to work together to break down solitudes.

Dearest ambassadors, I am certain that the people of Ottawa will savour your choices and that year after year, this event—which you have made possible by joining together in solidarity—will become a real meeting place for Latin American and Canadian cinema, making it possible to see more and more new films, make them known and distribute them in Canada, all while continuing to initiate and develop joint creation and co-production projects.

Once again—and this is the filmmaker in me talking—thank you to everyone who makes this extraordinary festival possible. In conclusion, I would like to say how much my career has been shaped by Latin American cinema, which I discovered very early on. Mexican, Chilean, Argentinean and Brazilian filmmakers paved the way, and films from our neighbours to the south have often shown us with what remarkable boldness and vivid imagination we can make films that question the views we have been shown and encourage reflection, all to our great pleasure.

Thank you. I hope you all enjoy the festival.