On January 22, at the Grand Bleu, you will present a documentary film on your adopted sister, from her final year to her nursing diploma. How was this very personal project born?
In 2018, Yona was 16 years old and dreaded returning to her father, with whom she had lived from the ages of 10 to 14, four very difficult years according to her. To protect her but also to give voice to a reality shared by other children, I wrote her story in the magazine XXI. I wanted to highlight the lack of foster families and the sometimes hasty decisions made by child protection. As for the film, I saw in Yona and my mother enthusiastic and positive characters, and in Lionel, more taciturn, the one who would know how to temper their impetuous side.
Finally, Yona was able to stay with “auntie” and “uncle”, as she calls them. How do you explain his family grammar?
Yona has four parents: her biological parents, as well as Maryvonne and Lionel, our common parents. And although his father carries “pans”, and their visions of family differ, he remains “dad”. I remember, when she was 12, telling her that he was not a good person, and she firmly replied that only she could judge that. She’s right. I don’t know this man, I have no legitimacy to judge him. As for her mother, although she was unable to take care of her because of her health problems, she remains “mom”, and I find that upsetting. But the great merit also goes to Maryvonne, my mother, who knew how to maintain this bond without ever trying to replace Yona’s mother, whom she regularly invited to our home. Yona’s educator nicknamed Mom “the Rolls-Royce of host families”!
From the splint to the wheelchair, at the end of filming, Charcot’s disease ended up taking Lionel away. How did you experience this ordeal?
It happened very quickly. In the first part of the film, the focus is really on Yona, who is somewhat the star of the family. Then there is a shift, the roles are reversed. Yona takes care of Lionel, who is in an electric wheelchair and can no longer put on his glasses or scratch himself. She never infantilized her and even played down the situation, going so far as to make him laugh on his hospital bed. She also said this incredible sentence to him: “If you see Johnny and Michael up there, you tell them we miss him!” » I think he gained a few weeks thanks to her! And then there is my mother, who was exceptional. She would have liked to continue providing care after the age of 60, but stopped to support Lionel, who did not want help at home.
After 22 years and sixteen full placements, your mother ended her work as a family assistant. What memory do you have of her with the children?
Mom practiced with great love and intuition. In his early days, he was told not to get attached to children, under the guise of protecting everyone. Except no, these children need love, and my mother knows it perfectly. She became attached to each of them, whether they arrived as “more battered” teenagers or babies, like Yona, they were all treated the same way. Even if, in Yona’s case, it’s different: mom picked her up from the Ploemeur maternity ward, at three weeks and one day, the bond created is not the same.
-And regarding filming, is it easier to film with your family?
No, it’s not easier. You have to manage a film crew and know how to set limits for production, which sometimes expects us to be intrusive and ask intimate questions of our family. Now, I am very careful of everyone’s dignity, I also want to preserve them, so where I was reluctant to ask for things that were too intimate, it was the cinematographer who allowed himself to do so. As he likes to say: “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission”, which works quite well, even if Yona, with whom he got along very well, did not hesitate to rebuff him regularly!
Your Breton tour, which began on November 27, will end on February 8 after twelve dates. What do you hope for next?
Before the broadcast on France 3, scheduled for the spring, I would very much like politicians to take control of this film, because the protection of children is their responsibility. Departments really need to be able to recruit more host families and this great profession should be valued. Certainly, there are already many productions on child protection but they are often controversial, and rightly so, because the situation in France is dramatic. But I wanted to make a very positive film, which questions the word family and the inevitable bond of attachment that is forged with host families.
Practical
The documentary “Three weeks and a day” will be screened at the Le Grand Bleu cinema, in Carhaix, Wednesday January 22, at 8 p.m. It will be followed by a meeting with the director, Laëtitia Gaudin-Le Puil. Entrance to the hat, the profits will be donated to an association to help research into Charcot disease.
