I studied political science and international relations, so I never considered myself an artist.
Philippe FalardeauFor sure, and we haven't found it yet. I understand why we have come to a time and place where we cannot touch the children at school for obvious reasons. I'm not that old, but back then some teacher would take our arm and squeeze it, and it was not fun.
Philippe FalardeauAny place where you have to deal with many social actors like a school - you have the parents, the Ministry of Education, the school board, and the teachers - you need all kinds of sets and rules. You're trying to foresee anything that can happen and everything becomes really rigid. They don't want to talk about death because they don't want to overwhelm the children, but that has already happened, so you're not going to overwhelm them more.
Philippe FalardeauOne particular night I was at the theater. I was not scouting for a project, but I was touched by this play by รvelyne de la Cheneliรจre. I was touched by the character. I thought it was a rich character that could be rich enough for a movie.
Philippe FalardeauIf you look at the end of the movie [Monsegnor Lahzar], I give a lot of space to what the spectator can also imagine of what's going to be Bachir's life afterwards. So, there's the restraint part, and there's the fact that the story is happening in the school which allowed me to tackle all these subjects without making it too didactic, because in the school everything happens.
Philippe Falardeau