That was intense. Did you enjoy these parts as a child? I really, really did. And in the movie, were you happy about the choice of actor, Jake Gyllenhaal? I haven’t seen the movie. He’s really good in it. You know when you read things you can recognize talent when you see it. And there’s a certain charisma to him. I really liked it. You mentioned that you’ve seen your work in print for the first time. What did you think about the pictures that were published in magazines? You don’t take photos for print — you take them to make movies. But those pictures, I read them at my grandmother’s house. And I was impressed. Why did you decide to do the movie at such a young age? I had already won the first prize at the film festival, so this had nothing to do with it. The film festival was in my hometown and I was invited as the guest of honor, and I just saw a film made by someone from my hometown. When they asked me if I wanted to be involved in it, I said “Sure, let’s do it.” You talk about being born to be an actor. But is it not easier to become an actor in your country? It’s not easy in the USA? Oh, no. I think it’s really tough over there. It’s hard. I’m not just saying that. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie, but I think if you make a movie in France, you’re very lucky. You’re still discovering new things in your work. When did you realize that you didn’t just want to make movie and theater performances? I started working in theaters and making short films — experimental films. I didn’t understand why I was doing that — what was I doing it for? The only thing that really excited me was to make an animated film. It was really easy. That’s the story I like to tell when I talk about it. It took just two years and I was happy. My film “Monkey Love” got into the Cannes Film Festival. So for me, that was just great. That’s my happiest memory. And that’s the only thing I’ve done as a filmmaker. Everything else was just a break. You said that sometimes you don’t even remember where you were when you realized you had won a prize. But I remember you winning the Vimy Award last year in Montreal. And that it really affected you. You were stunned, and your eyes were wet. You were just thrilled and overwhelmed. Yes, I was very moved. It was such a surprise. And it didn’t come from me. That’s what happened. I was invited to give a speech at Cannes for the opening ceremony, because they had decided that I should come and present the Vimy award, because that’s where the Vimy Award was founded. So I was very happy about it. You’re part of the first generation of people with all the possibility to express yourself. Do you feel that you have to be mindful of that? I’m not going to say no to this. So when you’re doing a film like “Monkey Love”, do you think about the people who make those animated films? Do you think of the people who have made films before? I don’t even think about it. It’s not my world. I don’t want to talk about something I don’t know. Do you have access to their work, or the films of the artists who have come before? There’s not much of that work available over there. I don’t think it was ever really popular. Even if it was, people got old. But they might be the only ones who really knew that side of the film world. So there’s no reference to it, at least not in my country. I feel like the term “dada” has been taken out of play. It’s overused. And yet it remains very popular. And if you say “experimental,” they’re going to kill you in many countries. Do you think about it? I don’t think it’s taken out of play. It’s just a word that people don’t understand. But I’ve read these three books: Dada Manifesto, Dada’s Notebooks and “Dada and Surrealism.” And I’ve read these books, and I find that it’s more and more interesting the more I read about it. I’m really impressed with it. Do you think it’s more the fact that people are trying to do these things now? I guess people are trying to be experimental and original these days. Yes, people are trying to be original. They like experimenting. There’s a lot of experimentation. But the problem is that they don’t know where to stop. What can we expect from you over the next few months? Are you working on anything now? No, nothing. I really feel like I don’t have any time. I would like to go back to the theater. I really would like to give a talk in front of the French language students in Montreal. I’m really interested in that. And it’s something I would like to talk about very openly. A few weeks ago, we were talking about a certain thing, and we were wondering if it was appropriate for me to discuss it, and I started thinking that it might be, but I can’t because of the censorship and all of the things that are going on in America. People don’t want to know about this kind of thing, and it makes me really sad. So it would be nice to do it openly. What do you think about the way the world is now? People say there are too many restrictions in France. Maybe there are some things that are a bit too sensitive to talk about. But I think that I have to talk about this because it’s really important. I think that the French censorship goes way too far. I really think it does. So it really makes me sad, because what I’m going to say I think is true. So it’s hard for me to speak about certain things. What do you think? The first thing that makes me sad is that you have to sign your article and be very careful about your statements. You have to be very careful. So you can’t talk about certain things. It seems like it’s something that we, as an artist, can’t do. When I was in school, one of the great subjects in literature was: “How do we know what we see?” But if you see something, you have to say something. What happened is that in Canada, in the States, you could be sued because of this. We can’t talk about certain things. There’s a lot of censorship. They call it censorship. But it’s really censorship. It’s really a bad thing. I’ve never been censored in France, but I’m sure that if I went to Canada or the States, they’d be very unhappy about some of the things that I say. But I don’t think that people like me, people who know art, should say nothing. What do you think of this climate? I think it’s too much censorship. It makes it harder for artists to express themselves. It makes you more suspicious of others. We’re supposed to believe everything we hear? So it’s really difficult to understand that people are actually talking about things that are not true. And if we don’t agree? Then we would fight. It’s really sad to see that. It makes me sad that people can’t talk about their opinions. So do you think it’s a little dangerous to be a writer today, or a painter? Do you think people should be more careful than before? Not everybody is really good at saying things. So we should be careful. But the problem is that if you want to be an artist, and you think you’re good, if you want to make a living, then they make you sign an article that prevents you from making films. And we should really be fighting against that, so that artists can make things without being too careful and that they can express themselves, and they can