Canada—A Human and Friendly Giant

Canadian Impressions, I Lived on a Street, Saved Eyes—these are the names of some the documentaries which I filmed in the Rocky Mountains, Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto during my several trips to Canada. To describe the essence of a country in one or two films is more or less impossible. Who or what represents Canada to me the most?

The deep and ferocious Rocky Mountains, with free-roaming grizzly bears and gigantic moose; the multicultural city of Toronto; the wild Stampedes in Calgary; the black-haired Aboriginals, whom I encountered in two fundamentally different forms—those beautifully dressed in powwows and those lying on the sidewalk—or community sales events, so called garage sales, which every weekend unite neighbours and remove barriers between strangers? The driver of a local bus line who suddenly stepped on the brakes on a highway because a hedgehog was crossing his way? Or is it that beautiful flag that reminds tourists that they find themselves in a land that honours nature? The national anthem that touches your heart (and you don’t even have to be a spectator or a fan of a Canadian sports team)? Or is it the pleasure that you feel when you have a chance to talk, using their mother tongue, with the many Slovaks and Czechs who strive to pass long gone customs from generation to generation, and conserve community activities, although they are not always “in”.

Canada is a diagnosis. It is a chronic longing to be part of the special interconnection of nations, nationalities, national minorities, creeds and ethnic groups which continuously strive to remain independent, multicultural and environmentally clean, all the while protecting nature. Canada is a giant that takes you aback when it transforms into a human and friendly one. When in a cold and remote mountain valley, you find a tidy wooden bench, where someone has thoughtfully piled freshly cut wood nearby so that tired tourists can warm themselves near a fire and relax for a while. Canada is also a squirrel that persistently pleads for a nut from the passers-by along Lake Louise.

For me, Canada has become a land that has its own “character” and its own unmistakeable identity. Canada possesses something that itches filmmakers to keep returning and trying to capture its diversity and, at the same time, its natural ruggedness.
Canada is a part of the story of my life, and of my film story.