A question I thought would alienate Lea Pool prompted an angry response – but it was directed at Stephen Harper, not at me.
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I asked the director of the wonderful Maman Est Chez Le Coiffeur if she identified as a woman filmmaker, expecting her to reject the label and claim to be a filmmaker of the world. But she said that of course she was a woman filmmaker and there are themes and female characters in her films that a man might not use.
She then said that women filmmakers always have a hard time raising money and took aim at the prime minister.
“It’s important to fight for women to make films. There are only about 10 per cent of women who can get the budget. It’s hard to get women into an equal situation. And now that Stephen Harper has made his cuts to the arts, especially independant film and video which is a main resource for women – a lot of women were in this program because they had small-budget films – it’s only going to get harder for them.”
Pool herself has been bringing movies to the Toronto festival for over 25 years. Yes, she says, the festival has changed.
“It’s bigger, for sure, but that can help get attention for your movie. And the atmosphere, it’s colder.”
