The childhood of Franco-Manitoban writer Gabrielle Roy, in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, will be at the heart of a new television series, Gabrielle Roy’s world, produced by Manitoba productions Rivard, Zone 3 and Radio-Canada. The eight episodes of the series will be put online on ICI Tou.tv extra from December 16, and can be seen in a burst. Acadian screenwriter Renée Blanchar was entrusted with the delicate adaptation of the writer’s life.
The series was shot entirely in Manitoba, where Gabrielle Roy was born and raised, in a Francophone minority environment. “I live two blocks from rue Deschambault”, where Gabrielle Roy’s family lived, executive producer Louis Paquin of Productions Rivard said Wednesday during a virtual press meeting on the subject.
It is the young Léa-Kim Lafrance-Leroux who will play the role of Gabrielle Roy at nine, while that of the writer at 20 is played by Roxane Denis. The actors Gaston Lepage and Martine Francke slip into the role of the parents of Gabrielle Roy, who were both of Quebec origin. Several Franco-Manitoban comedians are also part of the cast: Micheline Marchildon, Éric Plamondon, Laura Lussier, Gabriel Gosselin, Alice Mollot, Frank Schorpion and Charles Clément. The season focuses on Gabrielle Roy’s childhood.
Approaching the work of a writer as renowned as Gabrielle Roy for a television series involved risks. Specialists in Roy’s work, including François Ricard, have also accompanied the production team in the process, to ensure that the series respects the spirit of the writer. The series also uses a narrative framework which borrows certain full extracts from Gabrielle Roy’s books, and others which have been adapted by Renée Blanchar.
The French-Canadian soul
By a curious coincidence, Renée Blanchar was rereading These children of my life, by Gabrielle Roy, when she was offered to write this series. “So that his universe, his sensitivity, the complexity behind a writing that may seem simple, all that, it was like fresh for me. And throughout the interview, my fear was that we would lose the French-Canadian soul, that we would do something too simple with it, that it would become anecdotal. While for me, it’s quite the opposite, ”says Renée Blanchar.
The series, the first episodes of which were unveiled to journalists, also sets the scene for Gabrielle Roy’s life in this Manitoba at the start of the last century, where Francophones are both proud and in the minority, where women claim the right to right to vote, and portrays “the quiet strength, not always quiet” of Francophones outside Quebec, noted the producer of Zone 3, Frédérique Traversy.
My fear was that we would lose the French-Canadian soul, that we would make something too simple with it, that it would become anecdotal. Whereas for me it is quite the opposite.
The production, which brought together Francophones from Caraquet to Vancouver, aims to unite. And the strong figure of Gabrielle Roy, whose reputation is well established, has the power to allow it. “Whether we are Acadian, Franco-Manitoban or Quebecois, there is a kinship between us,” continues Renée Blanchar. Speaking of Gabrielle Roy’s work, “there are still many, many themes that resonate with us,” she adds.
In one episode of the series, we see, for example, little Gabrielle and her mother going to Eaton’s in Winnipeg. Her mother Melina (Martine Francke) then asks to be served by a French speaker, because beyond the language, she seems to better understand the reality of this tightly knit community. Léon (Gaston Lepage), Gabrielle’s father, is a federal civil servant who was dismissed after having participated in the settlement of Manitoba by welcoming new arrivals from Europe.
While respecting the spirit of the time, the series aims to be “timeless and feminist”, says Frédérique Traversy. For example, we see a scene where the unemployed men stay at home while the women are gone.