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Certainly, the main idea of the film was to talk about memory. I hadn’t thought at all about the universal aspect, but I told myself that it was something that had always interested me, since about age 15, and I had a flash and asked myself, “Why not make a film on memory, about my own experience here in Montreal?” And then I told myself, “But if I talk about myself, who will be interested?” That’s when I started to ask myself questions: “Is it a universal topic?” Without a doubt. Memory isn’t specific to a given country or person: it’s something we all share. Through my personal experience, filmgoers can identify with this theme, because regardless of who you are, there are always times when things from the past rise up to the surface, like it or not, even if you reject your past. When the project started to take shape I found other themes, like the father-son relationship, leaving one country for another, or even one place for another. The father-son relationship isn’t just about me, Pierre Sidaoui, and my father, Joseph Sidaoui. It’s about relations between a father and a son, and it’s universal. Maybe other people can identify with this theme. The same goes for departures. There’s no doubt that exile is another universal theme, but sometimes it’s within same country, the same city: you leave one apartment and move to another. This is also a type of leave-taking. You leave one region for another, one city for another, etc. This too is universal, and can stir people’s emotions, I think. I had my goal; I don’t know if I reached it, but the purpose was to talk about my own personal experience, and at the same time the themes are universal. That’s when I said to myself, “Fine, I’ll go ahead with the project even if I do talk about my own experience.” I wasn’t afraid anymore of talking about myself, about my personal history. So I just shifted to another level: “Maybe it’s the theme that will interest people the most.” Actually, after one of the screenings of the film, I was really pleased when a Quebecer from the Saguenay came up to talk to me. He said, “Your film really moved me and I identified with your experience because (he was talking mainly about memory) — because I’m experiencing the same thing. I’m from the Saguenay and it’s been . . .” — I forget how many years he’d spent in Montreal. And he told me that sometimes he had the same type of memories that I portray in the film. It was a treat for me to hear that.

Q) The tone of your film’s narration is very personal, almost confidential. It’s as if you were speaking to a single person. Who is your target audience?

Who is my film aimed at? At a filmgoer! But I didn’t imagine anyone specific in front of me. Truthfully, it’s aimed at everyone, as if there were someone in front of me and I’m talking to him, telling him stories. But I didn’t see anyone specific. The confidential tone was intended from the start. I wanted it to be as if the film was aimed at a single individual, but someone you call “vous,” as if it was someone at once close to me and someone I didn’t know. I’m talking to somebody and telling a stranger a story.

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