Seven Up! screened in a Montreal cinema
When Montreal filmmaker Paul Almond decided to interview a group of seven-year-olds in England in 1964 about their hopes and dreams, he was curious about who they were.
He had no idea he would launch a film series that four decades later continues to document who they would become at seven-year intervals. It’s a formula that has proven wildly popular, with the films in the series winning various awards and finding their way onto “best of” lists. The Up Series has also sparked a host of copycats from France and South Africa to Japan and the U.S.
Concordia film lecturer Matt Hays spoke with Almond after a screening of Seven Up! at the Cinema du Parc on November 17. Hays has written about Almond over the years and loves the film. Few people are aware that the British documentary series was co-conceived by a Montrealer and had never been screened here before.
“Paul was overcome with emotion as he watched Seven Up! on the big screen,” said Hays of the screening that attracted 60 people on a weekday afternoon. “He said afterwards how terribly touching the kids were and still are. He also told us that he stays in touch with one of the kids, Tony.”
Almond has said the documentary was inspired by the old Jesuit maxim “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." The project was developed when England’s Labour government was considering tax reforms to significantly minimize differences between classes. Almond thought speaking to seven-year-olds across the economic spectrum would be an engaging way to illustrate the discussion.
It was Michael Apted, usually associated with the Up Series, who decided to visit those same children seven years later. By then Almond had returned to Canada, and Apted, a junior researcher on the first film, continued the series.
Related link:
• Read a related story by Matt Hays about the project