Richard Gere says he contemplated coming to Canada to avoid being sent to the Vietnam War.

The actor plays a draft dodger in Paul Schrader91裸聊视频檚 film 91裸聊视频淥h Canada,91裸聊视频� and like his character, was a conscientious objector as a young man, he tells a group of journalists at the Cannes Film Festival a day after its premiere.

91裸聊视频淚 ended up running,91裸聊视频� Gere says Saturday, careful to reveal little about how he dodged authorities.

But instead of fleeing to Canada as his character does, he moved to the U.S. West Coast.

91裸聊视频淭he draft board was harassing my parents and the neighbours where I was. So I came back, went through a process and that91裸聊视频檚 when they decided I (did not have the) mental stability that they wanted to give me a gun.91裸聊视频�

Gere reteams with the director who made him a star in 198091裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淎merican Gigolo,91裸聊视频� this time to play Leonard Fife 91裸聊视频� a Montreal-based documentary filmmaker who is celebrated for taking a stand against the Vietnam War by fleeing to Canada, and for turning his camera on atrocities like the development of Agent Orange in New Brunswick and residential school violence.

In the film, Leonard is feted at a Montreal film festival and touted as a winner of Genie and Gemini awards 91裸聊视频� precursors to the Canadian Screen Awards which combined the film and television prizes.

A filmmaker contracted by the CBC, played by Michael Imperioli, is making a celebratory profile of Leonard and compares him to Toronto piano virtuoso Glenn Gould.

However, Leonard is terminally ill and hijacks the interview for a deathbed confession, coming clean about his life in front of the camera and his wife, played by Uma Thurman.

The movie, an examination of where the truth lies in documentary filmmaking and memory, is largely set and steeped in Canadiana, but it wasn91裸聊视频檛 shot north of the border.

91裸聊视频淚t cost too much,91裸聊视频� Gere says to a chorus of laughter.

91裸聊视频淲e did it right where we all lived so we didn91裸聊视频檛 have to pay per diems.91裸聊视频�

Based on the Russell Banks novel 91裸聊视频淔oregone,91裸聊视频� the film jumps back and forth in time following Leonard91裸聊视频檚 not exactly reliable memories, which continue to deteriorate as he succumbs to cancer.

Leonard91裸聊视频檚 younger self is played by Jacob Elordi, the heartbreaker from 91裸聊视频淪altburn91裸聊视频� and Sofia Coppola91裸聊视频檚 Toronto-shot 91裸聊视频淧riscilla.91裸聊视频�

Elordi did not attend the Cannes premiere for 91裸聊视频淥h, Canada,91裸聊视频� because he was actually in Canada to shoot Guillermo del Toro91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淔rankenstein.91裸聊视频� Toronto fans have taken to social media in recent weeks to share sightings of the 91裸聊视频淓uphoria91裸聊视频� star.

It91裸聊视频檚 hinted that the young Leonard may have had less altruistic reasons for opposing the war, his activism revealed as an opportunistic act. When asked about present-day political activism, Schrader suggests it can be similarly muddled by individual opportunism and unrelated grievances.

Schrader takes particular issue with the way criticism against atrocities in Gaza has been conveyed by some protesters: 91裸聊视频淪ome of which is antisemitism masking itself as political correctness.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭hese people don91裸聊视频檛 have, really, skin in the game. They91裸聊视频檙e not going to get drafted. (Only) a handful of them are Palestinian,91裸聊视频� he says.

91裸聊视频淎 lot kids are just doing this cosplay. Cosplay revolutionaries. Let91裸聊视频檚 dress up. Let91裸聊视频檚 put the kaffiyeh on. Let91裸聊视频檚 shout. And then afterwards, let91裸聊视频檚 go to McDonald91裸聊视频檚.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not the level of seriousness as it was with Vietnam 91裸聊视频� when people actually had skin in the game, when they were getting drafted and they were going (to war) and their friends were dying,91裸聊视频� he continues.

Gere says American activism in the 1960s was much different to activism today.

91裸聊视频淭he 91裸聊视频�60s was an explosion of possibilities and challenging everything. The youth movement of that time was in all the universities. It was in high schools,91裸聊视频� he says.

91裸聊视频淚t was going in this other direction questioning the status quo support, order of how things are done in the world. And I don91裸聊视频檛 think that91裸聊视频檚 happened here.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频� Radheyan Simonpillai is a freelance writer based on Toronto

Radheyan Simonpillai, The Canadian Press