Born in Missouri in 1970, now based in Portland, Oregon, Irene Taylor has directed around fifteen documentaries. Raised by deaf parents and today the mother of a hearing-impaired boy, she has often placed at the heart of her films human beings with a great capacity for resilience in the face of bereavement, illness or disability.
Via Zoom, the director of I Am: Celine Dion (I am: Celine Dion), a 104-minute film which will be available to Prime Video subscribers from June 25, tells us about his motivations. “I firmly believe in the power of documentary. I always want my films to raise awareness. I always hope that they allow some people to change their attitude, to adopt a new point of view on people who live with a disability, an illness or any other obstacle placed in their path by the existence. That said, it would be dishonest to pretend that this is what I intended to do when I started imagining the film about Céline, since like the rest of the world, I knew nothing about her state of health. health. »
It was at work, a few months after the start of filming, that the director learned that the singer had stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes stiffness, spasms and postural deformations. “I didn’t know how sick she was, let alone that she had been suffering for many years. So I didn’t arrive there with a cause to defend. It was by talking with her, by getting to know her that I understood the extent of the situation. In the process, I decided to take very little interest in his past, to concentrate on his present. I didn’t want to do a retrospective of her career, but rather to paint a portrait of the woman she is today, a portrait in which illness occupies an important place, of course, but not all of it. . »
A crossing for two
Would Celine Dion have retained the services of Irene Taylor because of her filmography marked by honesty and empathy? “It’s a good question,” admits the director. Only Céline could answer it. Obviously, today, looking back, one could imagine that she in some way chose me as her confidante. One thing is certain, she knew more than me when we started filming. I don’t blame him for not putting his cards on the table from the start, because news like this is not something easy to announce to anyone. »
All that Céline Dion would have asked of the director is that the documentary not be one of those where specialists of all kinds comment on the career and life of an artist. “Apart from that,” Taylor explains, “she had no preconceived idea of what the film should be. She was in the middle of a time filled with the unknown and that is why, I believe, she allowed me into her house. It was very clear from the start that she had something serious to go through and that she wanted to do it with me. »
In 2023, Irene Taylor directed Trees, and Other Entanglements, a film about the deep and complex relationship between humans and trees. It is impossible not to make a link with a metaphor used by Céline Dion in the documentary dedicated to her: the singer compares herself to an apple tree which, after having produced magnificent red and shiny fruits for many years, is saddened to see that not a single apple grows on its now bent branches, while a crowd of people with outstretched hands continue to hope for fruit.
“I found this image very beautiful,” explains Irene Taylor, “but I also found that Céline was too hard on herself. She is definitely not a tree that is about to fall! It doesn’t produce apples at the moment, that’s all. Yesterday, an admirer wrote something very moving on the Internet: “Céline, we are not here for the apples, we are here for the apple tree.” Obviously, it really touched Céline. »
Comfort and validation
The director would not be upset that her film brings comfort to Celine Dion. “I didn’t make the documentary to make Céline feel better. What I wanted was to paint a fair portrait of her. That said, I hope she feels validation from the film. She was afraid to tell the truth for a long time, because she thought that people would not believe her, or that they would find her whiny, like a spoiled child who would invent excuses to no longer practice her profession. Of course, this could not be more false. »
When we witness this long scene, towards the end of the documentary, where Céline goes through a violent crisis, where spasms occur throughout her body, it is difficult to remain incredulous. “There are several reasons why this sequence was kept,” explains Taylor, “but I want you to know that Céline saw the scene and she did not want me to remove it or even cut it short. . I was ready to change the edit, to add lighter moments, but she wanted me to show the world the reality of what she was going through. »