Black October

Writer/director Terence McKenna and producer Stephen Phizicky have crafted a riveting film that recalls the bleak fall of 1970 when a foreign diplomat was kidnapped, when a Canadian politician was kidnapped and murdered, when the War Measures Act was declared and when the streets of Montreal were filled with armed soldiers. It was a time of fear, a time of controversy, a time of conflict – a time of lost innocence for the country. Using dramatic re-creations, archival black and white film, news reports in both English and French, and interviews, Black October brings into focus the contradictions, misapprehensions and strengths of the decision-makers of the day. Stark footage shows the implementation of the War Measures Act as, at 4 a.m., armed troops and helicopters descended on Montreal. Reenactments show, in vivid terms, how the Cross and Laporte kidnappings were planned and executed. Actors read the words of the FLQ members responsible for the kidnappings and the murder of Pierre Laporte. Interviews include former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, his then Principle Secretary Marc Lalonde, Quebec Minister of Justice Jerome Choquette, then British Trade Commissioner James Cross, and former Le Devoir Editor Claude Ryan who became a key participant in the crisis.