how the shocking novel for teenagers was adapted into a series

One night, two teenagers with dark thoughts meet. Screenwriter and director Margaux Bonhomme had the delicate task of transposing Manon Fargetton’s work to the screen.

Porter on screen Nos dirty en l’air, the novel by Manon Fargetton (ed. Rageot) which recounts the chance meeting of Mina and Océan, two adolescents with dark ideas and traumatic personal stories, was not an easy feat. The screenwriter Margaux Bonhomme, also a director (Walk or die, in 2018), recounts his work of adaptation, delicate and intimate.

How do you adapt a book that talks about suicide into a series aimed at young teenagers?
In a first version, which stuck very closely to the novel, the plot focused on the challenges that Mina and Océan undertake to put themselves in danger. In agreement with the directors and France Télévisions, we completely removed them, because this invitation to take risks went against the message we wanted to convey. So we focused on what fascinates me about adolescence: everything we carry from childhood, from the past, and which we must get rid of to become an adult.

To tell this past, it was necessary to complete the initial story. How did you do it?
Manon Fargetton got to the point. With the writers of the series, we dug within ourselves to flesh out this part of the plot. The character of Ocean is as if I had always known him. Like him, I grew up in the 16th arrondissement. I lived near this bourgeoisie where ugly things happen, with issues just as complex as in more popular circles. In the same way, I immediately recognized myself in Mina. In middle school, I was much more of a Mina, who was harassed, than an Alix, the harasser in the series.

The Mina of the series turns out to be very different from that of the novel…
It was necessary to consolidate his character to better balance the balance of power with Ocean. At the beginning, Mina presented herself too much as a victim. This is why we removed the anxiety attacks described in the book which, otherwise, corresponded better to Ocean and his traumatic past. We also chose to make Mina a parkour enthusiast. If she can climb the facade of her school with her bare hands, she can’t be subject to anxiety attacks! There lies all the work of adaptation, which makes things move from one work to another.