Jeremy Podeswa was born in 1962 in Toronto, Ontario. He is Jewish, and his
Polish Jewish father, He attended the
Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto before graduating from
Ryerson University's Film Studies program and the
American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film Studies (now the
AFI Conservatory). He has recently identified as
queer and states that it is only one part of his identity: He was part of a loosely affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in the 1980s from Toronto known as the
Toronto New Wave. In 1983, 21-year-old Podeswa used his student loans to make his first short film, titled
David Roche Talks to You About Love —a 22-minute performance about a gay actor and his views on love. == Awards ==