Our Street Was Paved with Gold

Le boulevard Saint-Laurent, à Montréal, demeure, pour nombre d'immigrants, l'endroit où s'est amorcée leur vie nouvelle. Dans ce film, le cinéaste revisite la rue qui l'a accueilli à l'âge de huit ans lorsque, avec ses parents, il arriva au Canada; il la décrit telle qu'elle est aujourd'hui et telle qu'il se la rappelle : un port d'attache des groupes ethniques les plus variés.

Leaving behind the shores they would never forget, Italians crossed the Atlantic in two waves of immigration: first, at the start of the 20th century, and then in the years following the Second World War. Ever since, the Mediterranean has lived on in the memories and dreams of the Italians who made Montreal their home. Starting from a village in Calabria, the director recounts their saga and presents a chapter from the history of his own community. Wherever the tides of immigration carried them, the exiled descendants of Leonardo and Michelangelo have re-created a Mediterranean of the heart, to which they turn to reconnect with their roots. Through their words we witness the Italian spirit, marked by a history of families uprooted yet contributing so much to Quebec society. This is a film of lively historical and human interest, set against a backdrop of images depicting eternal Italy.

As the world learns to live again in the midst of the pandemic, for many Arabic-speaking LGBTQ+ people living in Montreal, this is just a period of time like any other. When you've fled homophobic violence in your home country and endured a painful migratory journey, or you still face social prejudices stemming from intercultural and intergenerational conflicts, surviving social isolation is nothing new.