Amour Toujours: Real and Imagined Histories of Cinema L’ Amour

A near-universal experience for any Montrealer walking up Boulevard St. Laurent is glancing at the yellow and red marquee of Cinéma L’Amour, the last adult cinema in Canada. Please enjoy this documentation of Museum of Jewish Montreal micrograntee Jen Jack's ongoing toy theatre and research project that explores an alternative history of the site of Cinéma L’Amour.

On April 24th 2025, Jen shared an in-progress puppet performance on real and imagined histories of the site of Cinéma L’Amour, which was at one point a Yiddish vaudeville theatre. Accompanied by casual conversation, this evening’s event aimed to be an opportunity for sharing and reflecting on how this space has historically affected Montrealers of all walks of life, and remains relevant to this day. Grounded in an excavation of the history of Montréal’s movie theatres and the arc of public entertainment on the Main, Jen’s work draws upon the mythology of the theatre and the history of Montréal’s Jewish quarter to fabricate an imaginative and informative presentation on the many lives of this theatre and its environs. Merging myth, fact, and experimental puppet performance, Amour Toujours: Real and Imagined Histories of Cinéma L’Amour invites a curious audience to explore the multilayered past of a Montreal landmark.

The event was followed with a discussion and Q&A between Jen and the third-generation cinema owner Devyn Koltai.

This project was a part of the Museum of Jewish Montreal’s 2025 Microgrant Program for Creative or Cultural Exploration, made possible with support by the Azrieli Foundation, the Betty Averbach Foundation, and CANVAS.