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gains confidence and Labow's emotional feelings begin to run amuck, that the movie begins to go down the drain, and lose direction." He ultimately concluded, however, that the film "has enough in its favour to deserve the patronage of film fans who want to see what a group of university students can do with the challenge of a feature movie."
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as a key influence in his own film career, noting that seeing a film shot in Canada by people he was acquainted with made him realize he could make a film too: "Secter had somehow hustled together a feature film that was intriguing because it was completely unprecedented. And then the film appeared,
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as their girlfriends Bev and Sandra. The film's gay subtext was carefully coded by Secter, who wrote the film based on his own experience falling in love with a male fellow student, but feared that a more explicitly gay film would not attract an audience. Even some of the film's cast have claimed in
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noticed the "overtones of homosexuality" in Doug and Peter's friendship. He gave the film a moderately favourable review, writing that "when the two fall into a casual relationship, Labow's accent on having a good time, and
Tarvainen's earnest desire to make good, has interest. It is when Tarvainen
400:, not knowing that his uncle had directed films. Seeing David's name in the credits, Joel contacted his uncle to talk about his film career. Those discussions ultimately led to Joel Secter's own debut as a filmmaker, the 2005 documentary
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expressed concern about the fact that gay-themed films of its era rarely depicted positive same-sex relationships, but instead usually centred on love triangles involving a woman; while acknowledging that
228:, a special non-competitive portion of the festival at which works of new filmmakers are shown. Its debut was as the opening film of the Commonwealth Film Festival in Cardiff, Wales on September 27, 1965.
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All four of the main cast members went on to noteworthy careers in arts and media, although only Amos continued to be known principally as an actor; Labow was a documentarian for the
264:; however, Secter had to fight the university administration for permission to film in other locations on campus. As well, the film was declined production grants from the
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According to Secter, "at the time I made it the very idea of making movies in Canada was an alien concept". His only prior film experience was the eight-minute short film
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is considered a major milestone in the
Canadian film industry as one of the first Canadian films ever to attract international attention. Secter made a second film,
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as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of
Canadian cinema.
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was one of 23 titles that will be digitally restored under its new
Canadian Cinema Reignited program to preserve classic Canadian films.
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581:"David Secter, the Varsity visionary: How a low-budget student movie went to Cannes and influenced a generation of Toronto filmmakers"
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as the centrepiece of a selection of LGBT-themed
Canadian films, to mark the launch of Thomas Waugh's Queer Media Database project.
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reflected this trope, he complimented the film for portraying its women characters with greater integrity than usual for the genre.
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as Peter
Saarinen, two very different students at the University of Toronto, who develop a complex quasi-romantic friendship, and
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and I was stunned. Shocked. Exhilarated. It was an unbelievable experience. This movie was a very sweet film.”
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romance. Secter subsequently moved to the United States. In 1976, he directed the low budget sex comedy
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Martin
Knelman, "U of T star is born, lands in porn; '60s filmmaker went to Cannes, met Loren|.
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interviews that they did not know at the time that the film was actually about homosexuality.
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David Secter, "Lack of experience helps: How to make a do-it-yourself movie without money".
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is a
Canadian romantic drama film, released in 1965. The title comes from the fifth line of
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698:"David Secter's Winter Kept Us Warm: Landmark 1965 gay Canadian film comes out on DVD"
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754:"The little-known story behind Canada's first queer film, Winter Kept Us Warm"
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In 2024, writer Chris Dupuis published a book about the film as part of the
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Ralph
Hicklin, "Friendship and $ 750 main ingredients of campus film".
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735:"Oscar Winning Doc Leads List of Restored Canadian Classics"
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as the first
English-language Canadian film screened at the
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Although not widely remembered among the general public,
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Frank Morriss, "College-made film well worth seeing".
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An independent film written, directed, and funded by
511:Martin Knelman, "He shoots The Offering in July".
478:alongside a retrospective screening of the film.
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309:The film was given a Special Jury Award at the
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297:, he has stated that he was inspired by the
406:. Notable figures who discussed Secter and
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616:Rosemary Speirs, "Secter receives award".
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403:The Best of Secter and the Rest of Secter
256:The film received a $ 750 grant from the
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681:"Winter Kept Us Warm (Web Exclusive)"
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51:David Secter, Ian Porter, John Clute
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889:English-language independent films
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293:. Having been a film reviewer for
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392:In the 1990s, Secter's nephew
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819:Canadian romantic drama films
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430:. Cronenberg has identified
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274:National Film Board of Canada
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879:1960s English-language films
869:1965 directorial debut films
410:in the documentary included
286:'s film studies department.
140:September 27, 1965
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829:Canadian LGBT-related films
324:Writing about the film for
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387:1984 Festival of Festivals
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291:Love with the Proper Guppy
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226:Semaine de la critique
854:Films shot in Toronto
884:1960s Canadian films
844:Films set in Toronto
607:, November 21, 1964.
535:, November 17, 1965.
447:Buddies in Bad Times
270:Ontario Arts Council
218:Cannes Film Festival
774:Winter Kept Us Warm
637:, December 7, 1965.
472:Queer Film Classics
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432:Winter Kept Us Warm
408:Winter Kept Us Warm
349:Winter Kept Us Warm
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284:Ryerson Polytechnic
235:as Doug Harris and
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24:Winter Kept Us Warm
721:The Globe and Mail
652:The Globe and Mail
634:The Globe and Mail
619:The Globe and Mail
604:The Globe and Mail
558:, May 1982. p. 36.
532:The Globe and Mail
514:The Globe and Mail
499:, January 3, 2002.
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18:1965 Canadian film
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493:"Queer pioneer".
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305:Critical response
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327:The Body Politic
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42:David Secter
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359:interracial
295:The Varsity
279:The Varsity
224:during the
56:Produced by
38:Directed by
794:1965 films
788:Categories
482:References
451:Pride Week
424:Ed Mirvish
262:Hart House
252:Production
245:Janet Amos
233:John Labow
197:T.S. Eliot
160:81 minutes
144:1965-09-27
86:Janet Amos
71:John Labow
48:Written by
647:Jay Scott
456:In 2023,
440:TLA Video
376:TVOntario
330:in 1982,
184:CAD 8,000
106:Edited by
758:CBC Arts
272:and the
173:Language
114:Music by
64:Starring
396:rented
176:English
165:Country
142: (
343:Legacy
268:, the
181:Budget
168:Canada
703:Xtra!
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426:and
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