Newfoundland filmmaker explores raising son in era of toxic masculinity

A new film from Newfoundland filmmaker Justin Simms was inspired by a major milestone in his life, he says.

Fatherhood left him grappling with the question of how to raise his son to be a good man, after his son, Jude, was born in 2016.

Sons follows the first five years of Jude's life and Simms explores conversations around masculinity.

"I don't know that it's a strictly male story. We have all been touched by the realities of masculinity on some level," he told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.

Simms said the first four years of his son's life were in parallel to Donald Trump's first presidential term and in that period he noticed a rightward shift in the world and how people thought about traditional masculinity.

"It was all very kind of fascinating to me and I was worried because I had never been a father and I just wasn't sure how one raises a son in this kind of environment," said Simms. "And so I started to think about maybe making a film to essentially help me think about all this stuff."

Camera in hand

Like many parents, Simms started recording Jude's young life.

"Over time I ended up with a huge library of stuff. And when I would look through it, you really get a sense of his growing up and his aging and whatnot," said Simms.

When he looked through his footage, he said, he realized he had the makings of a film, so he approached the National Film Board of Canada and now, five years later, he's ready to release Sons.

He said he's nervous but excited about releasing the 70-minute film to the world.

"It's really hard to make something and to finish something, especially a film of this nature. So I'm excited really to, you know, have something to put out in the world and to hopefully add something to the conversation around parenting sons and trying to keep our sons sort of on a positive path," said Simms.

Sons will be screened on Nov. 12 at the Fogo Island Inn, Nov. 20 at the Clarenville Twin Cinemas and on Nov. 21 at the Garrick Theatre in Bonavista.

Simms said he realized his son would eventually learn how to behave from him. 

"So that obviously leads one to think about your own life, and what kind of a man am I? Do I live an empathetic life? What does my son see when he looks at me?" said Simms.

He said when he spoke with friends it was apparent they didn't think about how their fathers also influenced their understanding of masculinity.

"So we're kind of uncertain how we're modelling for our own sons. And I think that's the core of the film in a way, that masculinity is something that we pass on to our sons. And we often don't really understand it ourselves," Simms said.

The film has been a big part of their lives for years at this point, he said, adding Jude is now eight years old.

"I will probably get a lot of the attention, obviously, as the filmmaker, but you know, it really is a collective effort with my family, my father and my mother and people in my community. So it's really nice," he said.

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