Monya Chokri. “By celebrating male eroticism, we will move towards greater equality between men and women”

“Quebecers produce eighteen films a year about family. I wanted to make a romantic comedy.” This is done for Monya Chokri who is presenting her new film, Simple as Sylvain the pleasant surprise of this month of November. History? University philosophy professor Sophia (bluffing Magalie Lépine-Blondeau), who falls madly in love with carpenter Sylvain. If this is a question of burning love, the Canadian director also questions class struggle, “an inexhaustible theme that is at the heart of our social and political fabric,” he says.

In May 2010, at the Cannes Film Festival, the young woman introduced herself as an actress. imaginary lovers, By Javier Dolan. Since then, the two friends have not left each other’s side, and Monya Chokri took advantage of her various experiences on the set of filmmakers such as Denis Arcand to take up writing and directing in her turn. His first attempt at my brother’s wife it was a success. Presented at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, it wowed the jury in the Uncertain Attitudes section with its humor, its sharp and inventive sides, and placed Quebec in the circle of directors to watch.

Then she wrote a feminist fairy tale. babysitter In 2020, it was worn by Canadian actor Patrick Hivon, Nadja Tereskevic and himself. At the age of 41, feminist and devotee Monya Chokri lives between Paris and Montreal and uses her films and her heroines, her “alter egos” to question her own life, accept her fragility and allow herself to be softer without forgetting humor. A healthy reality.

Madame Figaro. – How was born? Simple as Sylvain ?
Monia Chokri.– As with each of my films, I started by asking myself what I wanted to say to myself. In my opinion, writing is therapeutic work, I face my questions before thinking about the public and I try to progress as a woman through my art. Simple as Sylvain arrived in 2018 shortly after My brother’s wife . I was 35 years old, in a relationship, and I felt anxious, suffocated not by the person I was sharing my life with, but by the very concept of a couple. I began to think of the couple in terms of a man and a woman. I think straight women are more put off by the gaze of others than men, they need validation from those around them, whereas I think men are hardly bothered by it. My heroine, an intellectual, does not accept her relationship with the carpenter.

Where does this interest in class struggle come from?
From my parents. My father, a Tunisian, moved to Strasbourg at the age of 20 to study fine arts. It was there that he met my mother from Quebec, who was a journalism student. They were both communist activists and my mother was working as a trade unionist at the time, which doesn’t really exist in France. So he devoted his whole life to wrestling. I am from the middle class and I didn’t want anything. But inside Simple as Sylvain The class struggle is not only about money, as Sylvain earns much better as a carpenter than Sophia as a philosophy professor at the university. The gap between them is at the level of culture and social positioning.

Does dropping out seem impossible to you?
I learned that only 6% of the couples that do form do not come from the same social background. Finally, love is very new in human history. In the past, we often formed pairs through social, economic, and family alliances, and I think we maintained a vestige of that. We try to stay within our social class and in reality the different castes hardly mix. In my opinion, there are only two worlds that allow class leavers: sports and art. These are two environments where talent allows you to break free from your environment. Moreover, in the US, if a student wants to get into a big university, he needs a scholarship, and this is generally only given to athletes and musicians.

As a viewer, it bothers me to see actors naked on screen

Monia Chokri

Simple as Sylvain also addresses women’s desires…
I thought a lot while making my film Piano lesson, by Jane Campion, who was able to shoot extremely beautiful and elegant scenes of female desire with great modesty. I insisted on writing the sex scenes Simple as Sylvain – it’s still six. – imagining them as dialogues and trying to turn them into dramatic scenes that make the characters’ situations develop. I was in no way interested in filming nudity, I even set myself the task of not showing the body of my actress. As a viewer, I find it disturbing to see actors naked on screen. Suddenly I become a bit of a voyeur, and it takes me out of the story. The challenge was to deconstruct myself.

That said ?
It was important for me to show that a woman is also a desiring being. I recently saw the Sam Levinson series, the idol There is a very sexual scene of autoerotism with Lily-Rose Depp, she is thinking about her lover, but it is she who is filmed naked; the images flashing through her head are of her body, not her lover’s. This point of view is interesting if the goal is to show self-infatuation. But is it really so? Is this more likely not an entirely male vision? On the other hand, I wanted my heroine to think about embracing Sylvain by seeing her body instead of hers. Deconstruction begins there. we have been raised to think that the female body is more erotic, more beautiful than the male body, but by celebrating male eroticism, we will move toward greater equality in our male-male relationships. female Our mothers’ generation led the feminist social revolution, the new struggle is now focused on intimacy, sexuality, but also our inter-family relationships, the way we raise our children. This root has not yet been destroyed.

How did the actress Magali Lepin-Blonde establish herself? casting?
I never write with a specific actor in mind. I prefer the character to exist on its own until someone takes over. Magali is a huge actress who is very well known in Quebec. He played major roles in cinema and theater. He’s my best friend in life, and one of the first people I let read my scripts. When she discovered it, she told me she wanted to play Sofia, but it took me a year to get her the part. I was afraid that this collaboration would ruin our friendship, and I was afraid that I would have to direct it when everything was magical on set. I, who tend to frame my actors, wanted him to feel free.

Confirmed in Cannes, Simple as Sylvain presented Un in a certain sense in the choice. What do you have to do with this festival?
The first time I went there as an actress was to present a film by Xavier Dolan. Imaginary lovers. Then I came back for another film of his, Laurence anyway and I did not imagine then that I would return as a director. My movie My brother’s wife In 2019 it was selected in the Uncertain Attitude category, and I returned there last year as a member of the Cinéfondation jury. I presented this year Simple as Sylvain. The Cannes Film Festival is a double-edged sword. current journalists are so sharp that they can either love or hate your movie too much. However, this gives a stamp of quality to your work, which then gives you more freedom.

I was no longer very happy in this position of an actress, waiting for the wishes of others

Monia Chokri

Was the goal from the beginning to become a director?
Implementation was through writing. I started without thinking for a second that I will stage it myself. becoming a director seemed impossible to me. I didn’t think I had the skills to do this job, which seemed too technical to me. I ended up learning my skills as an actress on other people’s sets, where I followed the directors’ style a lot. In the end, I got the best of everyone and I went for it. It was liberating to go behind the camera, because I was no longer very happy in this position of an actress, waiting for the wishes of others. This new status gave me self-confidence.

What is the place of women directors in Quebec?
She is pretty strong as many women win at the box office. Even if their films aren’t always exported, directors like Louise Archambault, Sophie Deraspe, Genevieve Albert, Sophie Dupuis and even Chloë Robichaud appear a lot in Canada. We are very united, we encourage each other, we see each other’s films, because we know that this work is difficult. But cinema still remains very professional in Quebec, unlike in France, where it is a real industry. For us, cinema is still a bit niche, a bit artistic. So this gives creators some freedom.

Class struggle is an inexhaustible subject that lies at the heart of our social and political structure

Monia Chokri

How would you explain your friend Xavier Dolan’s desire to give up directing?
I am not in his head, and I have not met him after his statements. I think he was exhausted after doing his series The night Laurie Gaudreau woke up , and told himself that he had said everything at this moment. This humility moves me, and silence is beneficial in a creator. Xavier, having rarely been in the background in recent years, I’m sure this break will allow him to come back with something great.

And you, where do you want to go from now on?
With age, I tend to a softer genre, a little less inward, which does not exclude humor. But I want a loving cinema, I want to excite the viewer a little so that he feels calm. I’m also going to be quiet for a bit while waiting to find the right topic…

Simple as SylvainWith Monya Chokri, Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Francis-William Rhéaume… Released on November 8.