TORONTO - Alexandre Trudeau decided long ago he wouldn鈥檛 follow his father, Pierre Elliott, or his brother, Justin, into public office.
鈥淚've seen politics from all sides. I grew up with it. I've been more interested in storytelling, which in a way, is a deeper, perhaps even more effective way to change people's lives,鈥 he says during an interview in Toronto.
鈥淚'm not the political type. For one, I never care what people think of me. That doesn't make for a very good politician.鈥
Nor, he adds, is he suited to the compromises the job demands.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 not much for adjusting one鈥檚 beliefs because they would be more popular. None of that makes sense to me.鈥
Instead, he chose filmmaking 鈥 though he hardly strayed from political terrain. He鈥檚 spent most of his career directing incisive documentaries, from covering the 2003 invasion of Iraq in CTV鈥檚 鈥淓mbedded in Baghdad鈥 to chronicling Sudan鈥檚 humanitarian crisis in 2008鈥檚 鈥淩efuge.鈥
But with his latest project, 鈥淗air of the Bear,鈥 Trudeau is stepping into fiction for the first time. Out Friday, the Canadian thriller stars Malia Baker as an anxiety-ridden teen sent to stay at a remote cabin with her grandfather, played by Roy Dupuis. When unwelcome outsiders arrive, she鈥檚 forced into a fight for survival and, ultimately, for a sense of herself.
The story grew partly out of concerns he and co-writer James McLellan shared about rising anxiety among young people 鈥 a theme that unfolds against the frigid wilds of northeastern Manitoba.聽
Even in fiction, though, Trudeau can鈥檛 quite shake the political. He says the film鈥檚 marauding antagonists mirror the repeated threats to Canada鈥檚 sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump.
"Our film is a bit of a metaphor for that 鈥 being weaker, smaller and younger doesn't mean you lose the fight,鈥 he says.
"And also, the message behind anxiety is you've got to fight for your life."
That reading, he suggests, naturally extends to Canada鈥檚 place beside a turbulent superpower.聽
鈥淚t's a border story鈥 There are many ways of seeing it 鈥 young people needing to fight for their lives, and a country needing to stand up for itself.鈥
McLellan, who teaches film production at a Winnipeg high school, says he started noticing an inordinate amount of his students suffering from emotional distress during the 2010s. 聽
鈥淚 distinctly remember seeing so much self-harm on their wrists,鈥 he says, adding he still sees it today.
鈥淚t鈥檚 different than suicide. It's like a paralysis 鈥 like, scratching at yourself. It鈥檚 self-hatred, all types of things that were consuming these kids.鈥
He believes it reflects the overlapping pressures facing young people today. While he resists blaming any single factor 鈥 鈥渋t鈥檚 not just their cellphones鈥 鈥 he points to a steady barrage of stressors, from social media to economic uncertainty and the rise of AI.
鈥淭here鈥檚 just so much noise in the heads of kids nowadays,鈥 he says.
The issue hits close to home for both filmmakers, who have teenage children. But Trudeau admits he was initially skeptical.
鈥淕rowing up, anxiety wasn鈥檛 a problem for me,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 didn't really believe James at first because I don't teach like him so I'm not exposed to it, apart from my own kids.鈥
Raised on adventure and intense travel, Trudeau says he鈥檚 tried to instil that same resilience in his children through experiences like whitewater canoeing.
鈥淭he kind of things that help calibrate your stress engines,鈥 he says.聽
That inclination towards motion over rumination, he suggests, is something he and his brother Justin Trudeau still share.聽
鈥淪ometimes when I go over to his place, we'll watch something together. But we don't talk about film. My brother and I have the most playful relationship possible, so we're more likely to wrestle,鈥 he says.
鈥淭ogether, we're men of action more than talk.鈥
But if the subject turns to tensions between Canada and the U.S., Trudeau certainly isn鈥檛 lacking for words.
Having reported from Baghdad during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he says he long ago concluded that 鈥渢he great republic to our south was deeply damaged.鈥
鈥淚 saw countless people鈥檚 lives ruined by a lie,鈥 he says of the war. 鈥淲e all know it was a lie. There was no threat that justified it 鈥 and it seems to have been forgotten. But that woke me up a long time ago.鈥
For Trudeau, threats to Canada鈥檚 sovereignty from Trump feel like a continuation of forces he has been watching build for decades.
鈥淚t surprised a lot of Canadians,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e been up for hours.鈥
Still, he resists pessimism. While liberal democracies may be 鈥渃rumbling鈥 elsewhere, he argues Canada remains resilient.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still so lucky to be a tolerant, pluralist, united country,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t reminds me not to take this place for granted. We鈥檙e the last person standing for the things we want to believe in 鈥 individual freedoms, rule of law, transparent government.鈥
He connects that idea to the film鈥檚 premise: a lone survivor fighting back.
鈥淯nlike so many Western nations that once stood as examples of freedom and justice, we鈥檙e still going strong.鈥
This report by 国产诱惑福利 was first published March 2, 2026.
