Every step in the slow but sturdy evolution of Canada’s film industry has its own “butterfly effect” moment – an instance in which one seemingly innocuous event ripples throughout history in unexpected ways.
“It never occurred to me that you could make a movie. It was unlike someone growing up in L.A., where everybody’s parents were in the business. In Toronto, no one’s parents were in the movie business because there wasn’t a movie business,” Cronenberg recalled in an interview several years ago, explaining how Secter’s film inspired him to pick up a camera – and thus eventually transform this country’s arts scene.
“There was so little film activity at the time in Canada – you could count the number of Canadian films on one hand,” Secter says today. “I saw Don Owen’s, which made me think that this was something I could maybe do. It all happened very quickly, so I tried my best to learn how to do it.” ’s ultimate legacy rests not with its impact on queer culture, but on Canadian – specifically, Toronto – cinema.