Days, Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ most recent documentary, recounts a year in the life of Marie-Philip, from the moment she was diagnosed with breast cancer, at age 28. In the eyes of the main person concerned, above all, but also in front of the lens of the filmmaker, the film exposes a little-known reality.
At the Rose Café, in Villeray, Geneviève Dulude-De Celles and Marie-Philip immediately give us the impression of being two good friends. We are not in the presence of a documentary filmmaker and her “subject”, but in front of two women linked by something greater.
One, Marie-Philip, was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, a week before her 29th birthday. The other, Geneviève, always lived knowing that breast cancer attacked the women in her maternal family. Marie-Philip has experienced illness and everything that comes with it. Geneviève told her story.
La cinéaste, après son premier film de fiction, Une colonie, paru en 2019, prévoyait de faire un documentaire sur le parcours de plusieurs femmes ayant récemment reçu un diagnostic de cancer du sein. Elle imaginait une série d’entrevues qui permettrait de mieux saisir l’impact de la maladie dans leur quotidien.
Le projet du film Les jours s’est amorcé pendant la pandémie et la production a engagé une agence de casting pour trouver des participantes. « Ça me permettait d’aller chercher des gens qui auraient la volonté de parler sans avoir l’impression de forcer la main à qui que ce soit », raconte Geneviève Dulude-De Celles. Finalement, la cinéaste a trouvé une seule personne : Marie-Philip.
Un seul sujet
Marie-Philip a trouvé l’annonce sur la page d’un groupe de soutien sur les réseaux sociaux. Elle a accepté d’y participer. À ce moment, Geneviève avait encore dans l’idée d’interviewer plusieurs femmes.
Parce que la pandémie empêchait les rassemblements à l’époque, Marie-Philip avait créé un groupe Facebook pour son entourage, à qui elle envoyait des vidéos pour les tenir au courant de l’évolution des choses. Après leur rencontre, Marie-Philip a invité Geneviève à se joindre au groupe.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE
Geneviève Dulude-De Celles
J’ai eu accès à toutes ces vidéos et ça m’avait vraiment charmée de voir l’authenticité de la chose, de voir sa famille et le côté humain qui peut être drôle malgré toutes les difficultés.
Geneviève Dulude-De Celles
« En cours de route, j’ai fini par délaisser les entrevues, j’ai eu envie de la filmer dans son contexte de vie, et, vu la COVID, j’avais moins d’accès, donc j’ai décidé de lui donner sa petite caméra pour qu’elle prenne ses propres images. »
Surtout, Geneviève a décidé que son documentaire ne parlerait que de l’histoire de Marie-Philip. Les jours parle de ses traitements, de ses joies et ses déceptions, de ses proches, de sa relation à son corps, de sa recherche de l’amour aussi, à travers la maladie.
Le cancer du sein dans la vingtaine
Quand Marie-Philip a appris qu’elle avait un cancer du sein, elle n’a trouvé personne de son âge qui vivait la même chose. À l’hôpital, dans les groupes de soutien, des femmes plus âgées discutaient de problèmes qui ne la concernaient pas.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE
Marie-Philip
Quand j’ai vu passer l’annonce [pour le documentaire], I told myself that if I participated, there would be at least one in the film who would be younger. I figured the next girl diagnosed in her 20s would feel less like an alien if she saw me.
Marie-Philip
“The issues are not the same. I didn’t know if I wanted to have children and people talked to me about infertility,” she adds. Thus, one of the reasons for Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ film became “to show this blind spot,” says the director. Days took shape over time.
“At first, I thought I was going to be a two-minute extra in a Canal Vie documentary,” says Marie-Philip, whose face adorns the poster of the documentary, premiering at the Quebec City Film Festival. last week. I now realize everything that is happening. […] I still have a certain fear of being perceived as frail and sick. But on the other hand, I find it important that we see all these aspects of the disease. As date after illness or impact on loved ones. »
Awareness
Having become the main subject of a film, Marie-Philip says she never felt “invaded”. Geneviève’s kindness and gentleness made it possible to do things at the right pace. “I was only there about once every three weeks,” says the filmmaker. The rest of the time, Marie-Philip provided me with what she wanted from what she had filmed herself. »
In addition to the hours of videos captured over a little over a year by Marie-Philip and what she had filmed herself, Geneviève Dulude-De Celles was also able to access archive videos, as well as to the photo and video content of the young woman’s cell phone.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAISON 4 TIERS
Scene from the movie Daysby Geneviève Dulude-De Celles
“I realized the obvious: my great interviews with my big equipment, my big technique, my big camera, ultimately, it was not worth what Marie had captured with her little $200 camera. That’s what mattered. It was more telling. »
The two women reiterate in an interview the pleasure of having found each other, of having forged a bond thanks to this film.
“I also feel that by being around her, it made something that was abstract for me more concrete,” implies Geneviève Dulude-De Celles. I looked at the women in my family, what they experienced, and there was a fear of talking about these subjects. It allowed me to understand reality. »
Both hope that this “reality” can now be seen by as many people as possible. “I hope, for example, that it can educate younger people to do self-exams,” says Marie-Philip. “I had never examined my breasts before. I didn’t even think it was possible to have breast cancer before the age of 40. »
On display September 29