Clement came to Canada from Jamaica at the age of 11. He honed his visual sensibility at the renowned Norman Jewison Canadian Film Centre for Advanced Film Studies. RUDE, Clement's first feature film which he wrote, produced, and directed has played at festivals around the world. RUDE premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995 and opened the Perspective Canada at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won a Jury Citation for Best Feature Film.