MichèIe Hozer answers 14 Gravitas Questions with Alan Gratias.

With two films on the Oscar short list, Emmy-nominated, and Gemini-winning Michèle Hozer has been working as a filmmaker and editor since 1987. Her work has received accolades from the most prestigious film festivals in the world, including the Sundance Film Festival and the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. Shake Hands with the Devil won the 2007 Emmy for Best Documentary and the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Promise to the Dead picked up her first International Emmy nomination as an editor. Her directorial debut with Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould won the coveted spot on the Academy Award short list as well a Gemini for Best Biography. In 2012, Michèle was awarded The Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary for West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson. In 2015, Michèle completed her first solo feature length documentary in the combined roles of director, editor, and producer for Sugar Coated probing the role of sugar in a global healthcare epidemic. Sugar Coated was honoured with The Donald Britain at the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards.

Michèle has just completed the feature length doc Sponsorland for TV Ontario on a Syrian refuge family with 11 children resettling in Prince Edward County. She and her husband Russell Walker have recently purchased a waterfront farm in Waupoos after years of badgering by Russell.

I asked her about her secret of a successful marriage.

“Daily walks together with our lab Molly and Friday night date night at home with wine and cheese.”

Name one universal rule of friendship?
Laughter.

What are you going to do about growing old?
Develop as many laugh lines as possible.

What makes your heart stand still?
Newborns from all species (including snakes). And on the flip side those who are dying. The wonder of life and death.

If you knew the truth, how would you reveal it?
In a film.

We all hope there will be one more time. One more time for what?
One more time to do it better.

Name one secret you do not want to discover before you die?
How they put the caramel in the Caramilk.

What are you fatally attracted to?
A good story.

Give one example of life’s absurdities?
Reality television.

Why do we sometimes crave chaos?
I am not sure if I am attracted to chaos as much as chaos is attracted to me.

How do you stay clear of the rocks and shoals?
Hire the best navigator around.

When they say, ‘Follow the fear,’ what fear are you following?
Fear of being exposed as a fraud.

What is your favourite recipe for unhappiness?
Being a control freak.

What takes you down the rabbit hole?
Starting a new film.

How can we escape the trap line of our own obsessions?
Not to take yourself too seriously.

If we come into this world with sealed orders, what are your orders?
Finding the shining light in people and reflecting it back.

How are you different from the way others perceive you?
I am prone to giggle fits.