Clement Virgo and Damon D'Oliveira talk first impressions, breaking barriers and the immigrant experience

Rude, the first ever feature film written and directed by a black Canadian, was released in 1995. A boldly experimental and stylistic movie, it explores the stories of three individuals who search for redemption over an Easter weekend, while a mysterious radio host sets the tone by waxing poetic on her philosophies of life.

I watched Rude in university, and quickly realized that it was the first time I had ever seen a Canadian film that centred on the lives and experiences of black people. Not only that, those experiences informed its cinematic aesthetic. In class we read some of the numerous essays and articles that had been written in response to Rude, and that's what first sparked my curiosity about the creative minds behind this landmark film: director/writer/producer Clement Virgo and producer Damon D'Oliveira.