In 1940, in the middle of winter, little Jules and his mother, Catherine, left the big city for the “almost” Far North. However, arriving at his destination at Uncle Jovite, mayor of the area, Jules becomes disillusioned. Indeed, if his new environment delights him, the ostracism he suffers weighs on him. It’s that a rare but non-contagious skin disease has left her arms and hands scarred.
Treated as a leper by the whole village, he finds comfort and friendship with Asha, a young Aboriginal woman who lives in the nearby woods. And here they are launched at the edge of the forest in a quest imprinted with the marvelous. In Jules in the land of AshaSophie Farkas Bolla celebrates openness, childhood and nature.
The film adopts the form of the tale, like the two previous short films by the Montreal director, Istvan and the fur trout and D’In the time of monsters. “I like storytelling, because it allows you to play with archetypes and codes, and above all, it makes possible a shift from reality. Cinematically, it opens up so many possibilities: it looks like the real thing, but it’s not quite like it. Me, the reality in the cinema, that does not interest me so much ”, readily admits Sophie Farkas Bolla.
“I want to be taken somewhere else. In my film, I tried to reproduce this innocent gaze that we cast on the forest as a child: a flower, a tree, can seem magical. This faculty of wonder, we lose it while growing up. I wanted through my film, apart from children, adult viewers to be able to rediscover this enchanted dimension: the magic of a river, of a starry sky…”
The imagination specific to childhood, and how it can become a tool of resilience during difficult times, was initially the central theme of the film co-written with Sarah Lalonde.
“All sorts of other themes that are dear to me then imposed themselves, such as friendship, difference, the desire to reach out to others. I wanted to set that in a universe that would be both real and fantastic. I wanted to dive into nature”, summarizes Sophie Farkas Bolla.
A great adventure
The project arises in this case from a broader reflection initiated ten years ago. Award-winning editor, Sophie Farkas Bolla has worked on, among other things, Beansthe autobiographical film by Tracey Deer, and the documentary Angry Inuk (angry inuk), by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. During the editing of this latest production, current affairs entered the creative process of Sophie Farkas Bolla.
“It took two and a half years to build Angry Inuk. During this period, there was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I was struck by the fact that I didn’t know anything about it, that I had never learned about it, like residential schools; that I had never been taught. My thinking really started there. I wanted to deal with our common history, with non-natives and Aboriginals. I wanted to talk about it in a way that would be positive. Like a dialog. The friendship between Jules and Asha, who open their hearts to each other and go on adventures while questioning their place in the world, was born like this. »
Jules and Asha who, in a way, come together in their isolation: apart from his mother, Jules is excluded by the whole village, while Asha, whose parents have mysteriously disappeared, lives alone in the forest.
Far from subscribing to the received idea that it is difficult, in the cinema, to direct children, the director affirms on the contrary to adore it.
“Kids are so in the moment… Once you’ve chosen the right kid for the right role, a lot of the work is done. Then, it consists of playing with the energy specific to each child. You want them to learn their lines like a song that they’ll eventually know by heart, and forget about it, so that it’s natural. We prepared really well, and it went extremely well. »
Alex Dupras and Gaby Jourdain, the interpreters of Jules and Asha, confirm to have lived a formidable adventure.
“Sophie explained to us every morning what scene we would shoot that day, and that it would be good to do it this way… She gave us lots of instructions”, relates Alex Dupras, seen among others in the series Cerebrum.
“Sophie was very precise, adds Gaby Jourdain. She told us what to modify, what to keep… It was reassuring. »
To find who would play Asha, the director reveals that she visited a dozen communities, in the midst of a pandemic: “There were no little indigenous girls in the casting agencies in Montreal at that time; maybe one or two, but not of this age. As it was Gaby’s first film, we called in a super coach of game, Xavier Huard, and he was brilliant with her. »
“I liked Asha, because basically, she’s a character who describes me a lot: I’m not bad like her, reveals the neophyte actress. Asha, she’s resourceful, kind, sweet, open-minded… When Sophie gave me the role, I was really happy. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had. »
Anishinaabe presence
If she is delighted to know that her two stars enjoyed the experience, Sophie Farkas Bolla admits having had to compose, for her part, with a complicated shoot. And for good reason :
“We were in the woods, far from everything. We went far, as far as James Bay for certain scenes. The Laurentians, Abitibi… In fact, the plot is quite inspired by events that occurred in the corner of Amos. We went to Pikogan, we interviewed elders there… At each stage of the film, there was this concern. Kim O’Bomsawin (director of the documentary my name is human) produced the film with Hany Ouichou (producer of Bungalow)…It was fundamental to me that the Anishinaabe characters be played by Anishinaabe speaking the Anishinaabemowin language. »
For the role of Niimi, an Anishinabé who comes to the aid of Jules in the middle of the story, Sophie Farkas Bolla could not find an actor. So she had the idea of asking fellow filmmaker Kevin Papatie to appear in front of the camera. Happy decision: the director turned actor has a crazy charisma in the image. He was also able to provide some wise advice.
“Towards the end of the film, I had written this line for the character of Kevin: “The Earth does not belong to anyone”. But Kevin said to me: “You know, us, it seems: The Earth does not belong to anyone: we belong to the Earth”. I immediately told him to say that line instead. We were constantly like that, in collaboration. The key is to be humble, to put your ego aside. This is how we have to work if we hope to have a real reconciliation, ”concludes Sophie Farkas Bolla.
The film Julesvau country of Asha hits theaters July 7.