Interview with Jean Christophe Réhel: L'air d'aller

Creator of the fiction L'Air d'aller — broadcast on Télé-Québec starting on March 23, 2023

Can you tell us about the fiction L'air d'aller?

I had this idea after writing “What we breathe on Tatooine”, I told myself that I had not completely finished dealing with the disease, I think I still wanted to exploit some topics that I had not explored in the book, which is a book where the narrator is alone and in his head, a rather dark book where he faces poverty and is alone in the face of it.

L'Air d'aller is different, it is 4 friends who have cystic fibrosis, it is the last summer of one of their friends who is waiting for a transplant, and it is inevitable, either she has her transplant or she dies. Say it like that, it sounds dramatic, but there is a lot of humor, I think that I manage, without playing down what cystic fibrosis is, to approach the disease from a perspective that I know. Based on the few roles I've seen on television of people with cystic fibrosis, I thought it was pretty crude, cartoonish, so I wanted to approach it my way. But again, I don't have the real solution, yes I have cystic fibrosis, but probably other FKs will watch the series and won't identify with the characters, and that's fine, because it's a fiction, not a documentary. I did not write this fiction to democratize the disease, if some viewers can learn more by watching, so much the better, but I wrote it primarily to entertain and then make a good TV show.

In terms of characters there are Jimmy, played by Joakim Robillard, Cindy, played by Noémie Leduc-Vaudry, Catherine, played by Catherine Saint-Laurent, and Gabriel, played by Antoine Olivier Pilon. Gabriel is a tattoo artist, and really good as a tattoo artist, Jimmy works in an ice cream shop, Catherine is too sick to work, she walks around with an oxygen tank all the time, and Cindy she takes care of her dying father who is sicker than she is. The philosophy of this show is to show that sick people are happier than healthy people. On TV, usually, we place a patient to highlight those who are in good health more importantly, so I wanted to approach the disease in a more original and funny way, I think I succeeded, but I can't wait to hear from those who are going to watch.

Was it difficult to convince broadcasters?

No, I was really lucky, I proposed a project and it worked out right away with Télé-Québec, and they got into my madness.

How did the choice of actresses and actors go?

I had ideas, I saw a lot of auditions. The production was super kind and open in including me in the auditions. Not all directors ask writers what they think. With Sarah Pellerin, I had the luxury of being able to choose the candidates with her.

They really revealed themselves in the audition, when I saw Catherine, Joakim, Antoine Olivier and Noémie, I said to myself “oh my god, they are so the characters I had in mind”.

What was your level of participation in writing?

I'm the only writer, it's my original idea. But I had a fantastic team, Nathalie was a great script, without her the show wouldn't be what it is right now. This is my first TV series, obviously there are more restrictions than in literature. I was told “Oh no sorry, you can't blow up a house” or stuff like that. Nathalie helped me a lot with the screenwriting, and also Alexandre, my producer. We were a nice trio. Not to mention Urbania, not all producers are going to get into a bit of punk madness, with characters that are quite good vibes.

Have you seen the end result? What do you think?

Yes, seen the first rushes, and the first montages. However, I did not see the final mix. But I've seen what it's going to look like, and I'm really pleasantly surprised. It is a living, organic production, with a camera in your shoulder.

There is also an important element in the show, I included contemporary dance, it was a double-edged sword, because I didn't want it to be a musical genre.”Grease”, I wanted something sensitive, that went with the project. Sarah and the choreographer managed to do something fun and touching. When you have cystic fibrosis, you can wake up one morning and cough up blood without knowing what is going on, and sometimes there are no words to understand this misunderstanding, so I asked myself “how can I put this emotion back on the screen? ” then I thought about dance, about movements, about what it can evoke. I am not a fan of dance at all, but I had this idea. In literature it's easier, when I don't know how to express something, I do it with poems to get to the heart of the feeling. But in cinema it's different. In images, the dance was very useful. Sometimes the characters experience internal pain, and through dance we understand their pain, it's quite magical. The actors and actresses were not dancers, but they were very well coached, they did something exceptional, I was impressed.

I am really very satisfied, it's a big team. I have learned a lot. In the TV business, there are a lot of people who read your script, your texts, they have a lot of questions, and they all put their hands in the towel. Everyone takes ownership of your text, the costume designer, the lighting designer, the photo director, it's a collective work. It's fun and stimulating. They are hyper-creative, gifted people, and it's a young team, it's a very galvanizing dynamic.

Is there going to be another season?

There could be sequels. It all depends on the reception of the project and elements that I have no control over, but I have enough creativity to make a sequel.

Do you have other projects in progress?

I am publishing a poetry book at the end of April, for children who have dyslexia problems.

I'm also launching a novel in the fall, called “The Joke of the Century”, it's a family story that will follow a guy who is interested in humor, but who is experiencing a particular family situation, because he has a schizophrenic brother and his father has brain cancer, but it's a very funny book! My sales pitch is always that, there is a background drama, it's dark, dark, but it's funny.

Would you like to add anything?

I hope everyone will like it, especially the FK, I secretly hope so. We were so poorly represented that I hope it will become an artistic reference on CF.

A woman wrote to me recently, she said “I have cystic fibrosis, I don't like to talk about cystic fibrosis, I don't like to hear about it, but with your book I was happy to read that”. If the book succeeded in doing that, I hope that the series can succeed in helping some people accept the disease, and above all just laugh and drop out. I didn't want characters who feel sorry for themselves, if you want to see bad things, you just have to watch the news. With this show, I wanted us to be able to laugh, to relax, to be light and pleasant.

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