Margaret Atwood, Jeanne Beker reference Canada-U.S. tensions at awards gala: 'We all wish [The Handmaid's Tale] was more fictional'
A celebration of Canadian women in entertainment, some of the country's most beloved talents were in Toronto for the The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Canada awards on Thursday night. Among the award recipients were Amrit Kaur, Jeanne Beker, Margaret Atwood and Tantoo Cardinal.
Several of the women who accepted awards didn't just reference Canada's entertainment industry. They also spoke about escalating tensions between Canada and the U.S.
"When [The Handmaid's Tale] came out, a certain number of people felt I was a lunatic, because surely the United States would never, ever do such things," Atwood said while accepting the Icon Award.
"I'm sure we all wish the H.M.T. was more fictional and less of a docudrama drama. Will we all look back and say, 'Remember how scary that show was back then?' Or will we be unable to say anything at all, because we will have been censored out of existence. Meanwhile, we live in hope."
When Jeanne Beker accepted the Impact Award, she spoke about how she was able to build her career in Canada, and not move to the U.S.
"You do not have to move to the States to make it, you might have to move to the States to make more money," Beker said. "Things have changed so much. ... When I was rising up through the ranks in the '80s, there were not a lot of powerful women around. ... Women were kind of jealous of each other. It almost felt like, and certainly in this country, that there are only so many pieces of pie to go around."
"There was an intense competition. I felt it and I felt threatened by women, I'm sorry to say, some beautiful, wonderful women. We were all just fighting to hang on to what we worked so hard for, to what we aspired to. And I have to say that slowly, but surely, over the decades, things started to change in the most amazing way. And an older woman didn't have to be threatened by a younger woman anymore. Quite the opposite."
You do not have to move to the States to make it, you might have to move to the States to make more money.
Amrit Kaur began her speech for the Breakthrough Award speaking about how inspired she was by Deepa Mehta's 1996 film Fire.
"It was the first time I saw two women in a romantic relationship that were Indian women," Kaur said. "It was un-glamorized. It was raw. It was real. It was me. That bravery in telling the truth by the production, the artist, the director, that came out in Canada, is the reason I'm an actress."
"I don't think our talents should have to go to America to break through. I think we can find more art like Fire. There are a lot of wonderful women in this room and that is so f—king rare. A lot of women decision makers, and I want you to take more chances, more risks. Women have intuition. We're not scared of the truth the way men are. We understand the human condition. We've dealt with oppression. We don't take no for an answer."
Kaur also made a call for action to stop being so "polite."
"I want you guys to fund art that fuels our fire as women, as humanitarians and as artists," she said. "Art that's ugly, art that's uncomfortable. But in order to do that, we have to stop being so polite."
"Art isn't always polite. Art isn't always good. And as Canadians, we're so caught up in being good, we forget to be human. But I know as women, we can change that, because women know the pretence of being nice. We know the pretence of smiling, because behind every smile is a goddamn raging story."
Tantoo Cardinal, who received the Equity in Entertainment Award, spoke about growing up as an Indigenous person in Canada.
"I was born right into that world where people were breathing just really short breaths," Cardinal said. "There was no pride in who we were. There was shame in who we were. People who spoke the language were ridiculed."
"You put the kids in school for generations and generations, and make them ashamed of who they are. ... My people have been forged in the fire and the smouldering embers of genocide. And we were not allowed to speak until the Truth and Reconciliation Commission revealed it in their findings. ... I came from a powerful people. Our history will tell you we found truth in our survival of atrocities in the marrow of the children that did survive, touched by the spirits of those who did not. ... Stories are part of the sacredness of life. We still have so many stories to change so that we might walk in balance in this new world we're creating," she said. "We must be allies. We must honour each other's truth and trust us to tell our own stories."
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