This Sunday on Tout le monde entalk, Guy A. Lepage received director Lawrence Côté Collins, who came to promote his documentary Billy and his book Billy for life.
In this documentary, the filmmaker finds her attacker in prison. She wants to understand, forgive and support a suffering man. Billy is schizophrenic and his worst attack left two people dead. Their epistolary prison friendship sheds light on the truth about this mental illness which was neither diagnosed nor treated. Together, they tell their stories and reconstruct themselves through intimate correspondence and unpublished video archives.
Right away, the guest arrived on the set feverishly, asking the host for a camera to speak directly to the subject of her documentary, her friend Billy. She told him that what he was seeing on television was true and that if he wasn’t feeling well, he should call his sister for support.
This hyper-nervous intervention set the tone for a moving interview, which would tackle mental illness head-on in all its aspects.
Shortly after, many viewers took to social media to share their thoughts on this skin-deep interview.
While several emphasized the courage of the director to visit a set on which she obviously did not feel very comfortable, others also mentioned that the interview was particularly disturbing, due to the troubled state of the ‘guest.
Here are some hand-picked comments:
- « Bravo for your courage and kindness towards the cause of mental health »
- « “are you sacrificing your own mental health to the detriment of Billy?”; in light of this interview, I strongly believe that the answer is YES! As much as it was important, but as much as it was almost uncomfortable as an interview, I don’t know how to feel, let’s say, what about you? »
- « What have we just lived on… Phew… Courage to her and Billy! »
- « Chis woman looks so uncomfortable being there. This is deeply disturbing. »
- « The comparison of the oxygen mask on a plane was very apt…Take care of yourself now, you’ve done more than your part and you need to breathe. »
- « Phew… Really awkward interview. When she spoke to Billy through the camera, I thought it was staged. Kindness should be offered to her above all. Like Billy but not in the same way, she seems very unstable to me. I sincerely wish him to take care of herself. »
- « Never seen such a human and disturbing interview at TLMEP!!! Phewff! A woman who is more than remarkable in her gift of self! As I wish him, I wish them, sweeter, more serene times! »
- « I really wish her to take care of herself now »
We would like to personally thank Lawrence Côté Collins for this demanding interview, which was able to highlight, without judgment, the issues of mental illness. We wish her to find peace in this winding, but luminous, journey that she has undertaken.
The documentary Billy will be presented, as part of the Montreal documentary meetingsat the Cineplex Quartier Latin in Montreal on November 28 and at the Cinémathèque québécoise on December 1. It’s worth seeing!
The book Billy for lifein which we find Billy’s writings, will be available in bookstores starting this Wednesday.
