Broaden one’s horizons
This week, two documentaries premiered on Canadian public television echo the difficulties that young Quebecers from immigrant backgrounds sometimes experience in finding their way. So that their voice can be heard, taken into consideration and so that they finally feel part of “us”, instead of embodying “you”.
First launched at the last edition of Rendez-vous Cinéma Québec, the documentary Maisonneuve, at school living together, by Nicolas Wadimoff (Clandestine) and Emmanuelle Walter (Gentriville) takes us through the bustling corridors of Collège de Maisonneuve, in Montreal, in 2017. Two years earlier, a dozen students from this CEGEP had left the country or had tried to do so to join the ranks of Islamist organizations in Syria and Iraq.
This France-Quebec-Switzerland co-production, which takes the time to explain what the CEGEP consists of, is particularly interested in the efforts put in place by the managers of this educational institution, including nearly half of the student population. is now the result of immigration, to promote dialogue between young people of different profiles and communities, in the hope of developing a feeling of common belonging for this school, a feeling of inclusion.
Maisonneuve, at the school of living together
Radio-Canada, Saturday, 10:30 p.m., then on tou.tv
Possible dreams
In a completely different register, the documentary You can dream gives way to reasons for hope. Singer and actress Mélissa Bédard, who grew up in Neufchâtel in a very homogeneous environment where she stood out a bit, meets young people from immigrant backgrounds to discuss with them their aspirations for their future, the role models that inspire them and the difficulties. on their journey.
She also talks with public figures who have just become inspiring role models for several of these same young people: Mehdi Bousaidan, the DD Joanne Liu and Yolande James, who testify to the obstacles they had to overcome to reach their goal.
The exercise, which places great emphasis on integration through sport, sidesteps the thornier issues of the complex social and economic reality in which many adolescents with an immigrant background find themselves. It nevertheless constitutes an optimistic plea, but not jovialist for all that, so that these young shoots embark on the pursuit of their dreams, at all costs. And it’s beautiful to see!
You can dream
Radio-Canada, Tuesday, 9 p.m.