Clement Virgo is one of Canada's foremost feature film directors. Born in Jamaica, Virgo immigrated to Canada at the age of 11. He was a resident in the inaugural 1991 Summer Lab at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and returned there in 1992 for a further nine-month residency. Virgo has also received acclaim for his work in short film and television...
I know when I'm watching a movie and a Black person comes on the screen, my attention really pops up. So, for instance, when Sam shows up in Casablanca (1942), I want him to be part of the whole thing. But it breaks my heart when I see him carrying Humphrey Bogart's bags and calling him "Boss". It breaks my heart.
2
[in 1995, about the commercial fate of serious films with nonwhite protagonists] People don't want to hear about race or sexism, they want to see Dumb & Dumber (1994).
3
[1995] I think White people will see a film (about non-Whites) if it's filtered through a "White eye". Like Brad Pitt taking them through Tibet.
4
I don't ever want to lecture or preach. I want the audience to have real emotions, not false or forced emotions.
5
[1995] I'd like to do a boxing movie with Brad Pitt and make some money.
6
I don't think you can survive as a filmmaker nowadays without having some kind of entrepreneurial spirit. It just won't work.
7
I don't think that I chose to become a filmmaker. I think that it kinda chose me.
8
For a long time, I didn't really think I could be a filmmaker. It was always more of a hobby than an actual career that I thought I could do.
9
[on Lie with Me (2005) on filming the sex scenes] The actors trusted me implicitly. We never had the conversation, 'You're going to have sex.' But it couldn't be fake touching. It had to be truthful. If I believed what they were doing, I'd keep shooting. If I didn't, I'd stop shooting.
#
Fact
1
In 1991, was accepted in the Canadian Film Centre's full-time program.
2
Is a long-time fan of boxing.
3
Owns his own production company, Conquering Lion Productions, along with business partner, Damon D'Oliveira.
4
Went to high school at Danforth Technical School.
5
Lived in Regent Park, nicknamed Toronto's "ghetto", the largest public-housing estate of the city, known for its problems with drugs and crime.
6
In 1977, moved to Canada with his mother, a nurse's aide, his brother and two sisters. His father, a shoemaker, stayed in Jamaica.
7
His interest in men's fashion led him to work as a window dresser for Harry Rosen in Toronto, one of his very first jobs.
8
Attended West Preparatory Public School in north Toronto.
$12 Million
