A coffee with Roger Frappier | Cinema and politics

Roger Frappier studied political science before beginning a prolific career in cinema. We see when talking to him that these two disciplines are forever interrelated for him. Frappier has been making cinema for 50 years. He also plays politics.

Even today, the influential producer continues to fight for full recognition of artists, for greater confidence in producers, for the establishment of a sustainable film industry, etc.

The former young activist of the Rally for National Independence (RIN) is never far away. “We should ask ourselves the question: should Quebec completely repatriate culture? If the Quebec government decides that culture is important, let it put the means into it,” believes Roger Frappier, to whom a former classmate, the political scientist Denis Monière, has just devoted a biography, Roger Frappier: daring Quebec cinema (Hands Free Editions).

The importance given to the vitality of cultural industries should be essential in a precarious culture like that of Quebec, perpetually threatened by the weight of the Anglo-Saxon steamroller that surrounds it, recalls Roger Frappier.

“Cinema is one of the great vectors for the propagation of culture. We always say that Quebec is its culture, but we still only grant it 1% of the budget, which is nonsense. All the people who work in cinema and television in Quebec number 36,000 people. The aeronautics industry employs 40,000 people. »

The producer of Decline of the American Empire and of The great seduction is against the prejudices that persist about artists, this “luxury BS” according to the formula established by a certain right in Quebec. “My greatest sadness for 50 years is that we have not been able to make governments and public opinion understand the essence of this great industry for Quebec. As we receive subsidies, we are seen as being at the expense of governments. But not Bombardier…”

He cites from memory an article from the Cinema law which provides that the State must prioritize “the establishment and development of independent and financially autonomous Quebec companies in the field of cinema”. “That, SODEC [Société de développement des entreprises culturelles] does not do it, believes Roger Frappier. The 30-year-old film-by-film financing system can no longer work. We must return to the essence of the law. »

The producer of course preaches for his parish, but he also speaks with knowledge of the facts. Between the exit ofHochelaga, land of souls by François Girard in 2017 and the new film by Lyne Charlebois that he has just produced with his company MAX Films 15 years later Borderline, three of its projects were refused by the institutions (SODEC and Telefilm Canada). “Six years without a film, when you have a company and salaries to pay, it’s not possible,” he said. I had to go international. »

By “necessity”, Frappier therefore co-produced The Power of the Dog by Jane Campion, a project he had in mind for several years. “ The Power of the Dog took a lot of energy and a lot of years of my life. I’m absolutely delighted I did it! », says the producer. This magnificent film, nominated 12 times for the Academy Awards, won the Oscar for best direction for Jane Campion last year.

Producer of some of the most significant films of our national cinematography (A zoo at night, Jesus of Montreal), Roger Frappier is also a talent scout, who notably gave his first chance to a young filmmaker named Denis Villeneuve, today considered one of the best directors on the planet. He would like us to have more confidence in production houses, by granting them recurring funds as well as envelopes linked to the performance of their films at the box office and their influence at international festivals.

“It’s completely ridiculous that a television production house can make three, four or five shows per year, while a movie production house can’t make more than one feature film per year, which doesn’t “It almost never happens,” he said. There are 200 film production houses in Montreal producing around thirty feature films per year. How do you want to be financially independent? »

15 years ago, at a time when Telefilm Canada’s famous performance envelopes – which I have often decried – were only based on commercial criteria, Roger Frappier was able to produce Borderline, the adaptation of the novel by Marie-Sissi Labrèche, despite four refusals of grants from institutions. “Lyne [Charlebois] was the first woman to win the Jutra for best achievement. That’s what envelopes do. Even if it’s true that it can also result in things that aren’t worth it…”

We sometimes had disagreements, he and I, on certain subjects. In particular on films that he produced and about which I had reservations. As a producer, he often acts like a father who does not tolerate criticism of his children. His conflicted relationship with criticism dates back to the 1970s, when he criticized Robert Guy Scully for his incompetence after his criticism of Kamouraskaby his friend Claude Jutra, in The duty. A few years earlier, Frappier himself had been briefly critical of Duty…

“My relationship with criticism changes depending on the criticism,” he says, cryptically, recalling some injuries, linked in particular to the reception of Ding and Dong the movie and to that ofAugust 32 on earth by Denis Villeneuve by Quebec critics at Cannes. “My big rants were more aimed at institutions, about the refusal of projects that I found unfair,” he says.

The answer would surely be that it costs much more to produce a film than a novel or an album, and that giving carte blanche to film producers would perhaps end up favoring only a handful of them. The fact remains that Roger Frappier is right to regret that Quebec filmmakers can hardly build a filmography, at a frequency of one feature film every 15 years like Lyne Charlebois.

“Almodovar makes a film every 18 months. Here, it’s as if it were written in the Constitution that each person had the right to direct a feature film, he quips. Not everyone can play for the Canadian. Those who have a work within them must be able to work in continuity, with production houses which have established solid foundations. Then we will have an industry. »

He gives the example of Robert Lepage, whose film career was somehow stopped in mid-flight. “The same week that Robert received the prize for best director in the world in Athens, his film was rejected by Telefilm Canada,” recalls Roger Frappier. The same week! I called him to give him my envelope. He refused it. He was too disgusted. We judge films on scripts, without taking into account that the work of an artist like Robert Lepage is always a work in progress. »

Even if, in 50 years in the business, Frappier has seen the Quebec film industry partly built and partly deconstructed, he remains optimistic. “Things are changing!” What I find great at the moment is the place that women are taking. The two films that were the most successful at the box office this summer are by Anik Jean and Louise Archambault. At the Toronto Festival, the two Quebec films that received the greatest support are Solo by Sophie Dupuis and Happy Days by Chloé Robichaud. »

Monia Chokri delighted the audience at the Cannes Film Festival, just like Ariane Louis-Seize and Delphine Girard at the Venice Film Festival. “Manon Briand is starting filming her new film,” adds her former producer. Women’s cinema is booming. And what’s great about our cinematography is that it supports the global revolution of women in cinema. »

Despite the difficulties he has encountered in recent years, Roger Frappier would not change his job for anything in the world. At 78 years old, he is not in the slightest considering retirement. “When I started, I didn’t know that I could grow old with my job and have so much fun. This is my permanent university. I’m learning all the time. »