“I realized people there were ready to hear nuanced positions on thorny topics. My greatest takeaway from that experience was realizing the power of speech in France, and how they’re not afraid of verbal conflict, of explicitly calling out societal problems by name, which is quite different from Quebec. That was fascinating and profound. In interviews, you’ve often talked about how you feel a certain kinship to the oppressed and the underdogs. Does that continue to fuel your drive as a storyteller? I guess for a long time, I was really keen on calling myself oppressed or marginalized. Maybe my mind is changing about that, maybe I feel more like everybody else every single day.”