Winter Kept Us Warm
60th anniversary special edition
Winter Kept Us Warm (1965)
Leaving his small town to attend the University of Toronto, introspective freshman Peter (Henry Tarvainen) finds a campus steeped in tradition waking up to the radical politics of the 1960s. Following a disastrous first encounter, he connects with handsome and cocksure sophomore Doug (John Labow), who quickly indoctrinates him in city and college life. But as their bond grows, Doug’s girlfriend Bev (Joy Fielding) feels increasingly cast aside and begins to question the nature of the friendship. Tensions come to a head when Peter starts dating Sandra (Janet Amos), forcing Doug to confront his true feelings and desires.
Often described as the first LGBTQ+ film ever to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, David Secter’s Winter Kept Us Warm was one of the first Canadian feature films to attract international acclaim with its lovingly observed portrait of a burgeoning queer romance, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in the country. A milestone in independent film production, Secter’s debut would go on to influence a wide range of Canadian auteurs, most notably David Cronenberg, who cites Winter Kept Us Warm as the film that inspired him to become a filmmaker. CIP is proud to resurrect this trailblazing classic with a new 4K restoration.
Special features
• Newly scanned and restored in 4K from the original 16mm A/B camera negatives by Canadian International Pictures with sound transferred from the answer print
• New audio commentary featuring director David Secter
• New audio commentary featuring filmmaker John Greyson and author/professor Thomas Waugh
• Learning on the Job (2025, 18 min.) – New interview with Secter
• The Actor as Author (2025, 16 min.) – New interview with actress Joy Fielding
• Winging It (2025, 16 min.) – New interview with executive producer Ronald B. Thomson
• First Score (2025, 12 min.) – New interview with composer Paul Hoffert
• After Winter (2025, 13 min.) – Hoffert reflects on his body of work
• Behind-the-scenes footage (1965, 5 min.)
• Outtakes and deleted scenes (1965, 18 min.)
• Unmade Memory (2025, 9 min.) – Secter on Memory & Desire, the sequel he wrote, but never shot
• Screenplay draft for Memory & Desire
• Press gallery
• Theatrical re-release trailer
• Love with the Proper Guppy (1964, 8 min.) – New 2K scan of Secter’s first short
• The Best of Secter & the Rest of Secter (2005, 58 min.) – Documentary on David Secter’s life and work with a new introduction by director Joel Secter
• Booklet featuring a new essay by Chris Dupuis and an archival essay by Waugh
• English SDH subtitles
Canadian International Pictures
From arthouse to Canuxploitation, Canadian International Pictures (CIP) is devoted to resurrecting vital, distinctive, and overlooked triumphs of Canadian and Québécois cinema. We are focused on the country’s original cinematic boom years – spanning the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s – occasionally venturing past that period (and the country’s borders) to highlight the films of Canada’s most inspired actors and filmmakers.
