Pictures against a word

“I am not a filmmaker, I am just a father who used a medium to be able to defend a cause,” says Gioberti François. His work, the documentary Approved by the Ministry of Education, was made with her son Quincy, who is now 15 years old. The film recounts painful events that occurred in 2018 and the steps that followed during the following two years. “We were coming back from a basketball tournament, and he was reading a book recommended to him by the school,” says the father of the family. His son's sporting activities force him to catch up with school work on the road. While his father was driving, Quincy, who attended the École des Cavaliers in Aylmer, read a book aloud. He reads a sentence that contains the N-word.

“I asked him to reread it, but I did it with an aggressive emotion because I was stunned,” says Gioberti, who couldn't believe his ears. He stops by the side of the road. “Quincy didn't understand why he was being reprimanded; he thought that was his pronunciation. I had to reassure him,” said Mr. François, who now regrets his strong reaction. “Imagine that my son was in sixth grade. It is a primary school book approved by the Ministry of Education for 22 years,” he said, adding that the N-word is repeated three times in the book, whose title is A classy corpse and which was published in 1997 by the Quebec author Robert Soulières. With his son, Gioberti François began a journey whose outcome he could never have imagined.

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Obtaining your case

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A studious student, Quincy will not do his homework this time. Mr. François contacted the school in Gatineau where his son attended. “I wrote a letter to the school to express my anger, but also my openness to the situation, if we wanted to take certain steps,” he said. The management never called him back. “I had to contact the school board,” said Mr. François. At the Portages-de-l'Outaouais School Board (CSPO), he was told that this book was the way chosen to open the discussion on racism.

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He therefore decided to take his case to the Ministry of Education, where he was told that the issue was a matter for the school. However, it is the ministry that authorizes the readings that are on the curriculum in schools. At some point, he learned that the book in question had been removed. He suspects a measure in reaction to media pressure. However, the book can still be read by students across Quebec. Mr. François, who himself studied all his studies in Quebec, from elementary school to university, can't believe it. “I couldn't believe that the system that taught me could offer such a book to my son, and in addition fight to keep it! It was something that had to be reported.” The father of the family then contacted the Commission des Droits de la Personne et des Droits de la Jeunesse, then to the Québec Ombudsman, to no avail.

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A positive effect

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Following the responses obtained from the various authorities, Mr. François decided to make a documentary, which will be entitled Approved by the Ministry of Education. For this marketing specialist and a great movie lover, everything can be learned from being a filmmaker. So why make a movie out of it? “It was a complex situation; there were several steps. I think audiovisual is the easiest way to assimilate something intelligibly,” he says. But above all, he didn't want it all to end on a bitter note.

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“It's a very negative situation. I told myself that I could take this situation and convert it into something positive,” he says. He and his son were going to be able to experience something new, experience a whole new field together, and then share their experience. “Maybe he'll get an injection for film and production,” I told myself. And maybe it will be more than a negative experience, because it's a very sensitive and tough subject. For my son too, it was something that was very difficult to explain. I told myself that through this experience — the production of a documentary — we would not only learn things together, but we would also have a time together and we would do something positive for the community.” Her family was involved in the process.” Her family was involved in the process.

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“There are scenes that are not perfect and that my children filmed — I think it was authentic.” Completing the film was a major project, which required two years of work, in the midst of a pandemic, and the help of professionals. “Producing a documentary is a real job that requires expertise in sound and image,” he recalls. Approved by the Ministry of Education was presented at the Ottawa Black Film Festival as well as at the 38th edition of the Vues d'Afrique film festival. Mr. François also had the opportunity to present it in front of students from the province.

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A learning journey

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The production of the documentary took the François family from Toronto to Halifax. “What was important was to bring the stakeholders together, to interview them based on their experience and their responsibility,” explains Mr. François. For example, Quincy had the opportunity to interview Greg Fergus, member of Parliament for his constituency, parliamentary secretary and former president of the Black Caucus in Ottawa. The team also had the opportunity to meet Willie O'Ree, the first black player on the National Hockey Line, the historian Frantz Voltaire and the professor Rachel Zellars. Mr. François also spoke to Raymond Sunstrum, a father who did the same thing 25 years earlier, an experience he recounts in the book The poetry of truth. His daughter had been exposed to an exercise containing the N-word. “They were subjected to the wrath of the education system, especially the school,” said Mr. François, at a time when the current Prime Minister, François Legault, was Minister of Education.

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Following his initial idea, however, Mr. François discovered the plot of the film during the project. “I had a guideline when I was thinking about documentaries, but on the ground, it took on an unexpected dimension. For that, I believe that the result is authentic, and I am very proud of it! ” exclaims the father of the family. Each conversation led him to rethink his own position and, at times, to question himself and refocus his research. “My aim was more to expose the situation,” says the aspiring producer. The other thing he wanted to show, not only to his son, but also to all children, was the determination that must be shown in certain situations. “When you are exposed to a situation that hurts you, find the means to defend yourself,” advises Mr. François. In this respect, he recalls that he is neither an activist nor a filmmaker, but only a father who is a family man. “A father who was hurt by a situation and who felt the need to fight against the system, but also to show his son that it is important to fight for his beliefs,” he adds. For him, it's the duty of any parent. “And that's what motivated me and kept the fire burning during the two years of production.”

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The weight of words and of a system

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If there was one thing he could change about the story, Gioberti François says that would be his reaction when his son read aloud. “I was very emotional at the time. I startled him, I screamed; he was wondering if he had done something wrong. I'm going to be mad at myself all my life! ” he says.

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Then, Mr. François took the time to explain to Son Quincy what he had just read. “He was very shocked, angry,” he reports. It's heavy for a kid to carry. When his teacher asked for his homework, the boy replied: “My father said it was not an appropriate book for me.” The reflection of the father of the family, who does not want to participate in the debate about the use, or definition, of the N-word, is the following: “I think that this word should be framed in a responsible way in the curriculum if we insist on putting it there, especially if we talk to students about primary,” he said. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), a school board that includes 143 schools, including 113 elementary schools, has abolished the use of this word in the curriculum. The father believes that this is a step forward. “It is something to think about, especially if we are talking about elementary school children. Of course, at the university, we can discuss it. In the end, confusion is there,” he believes.

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Although the documentary is intended for an audience of all ages, the producer now realizes that some of the students it was shown to were too young. “Although I think we are bringing something that will make them aware and aware, I also believe that children are not ready for this content. I think there is an age for everything, and children should be given time to gain emotional and intellectual maturity before dealing with this word, which has a lot of historical significance,” he believes. Four years after the start of this adventure, Gioberti François lost confidence in the system. “I think it is important for schools to understand diversity, since we entrust our children to them every day. We put a lot of trust in them and it is important that they value this trust.

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Exposing our children to content that could affect their self-esteem is a dangerous thing that they should consider,” he said. Today, he closely monitors the content his children are exposed to. He believes that, in such a situation, many would have given up along the way. “I think I did this for all these parents and I hope that it will inspire parents, not to make a documentary, but to make an effort to denounce.” The impact can be felt beyond what one can observe. “It will help parents not to make a documentary, but to make an effort to denounce.” The impact can be felt beyond what one can observe. “It will help the children of my children, children of white parents too. It promotes the creation of a more harmonious community. I think we're all going to win.” Read more about the documentary Approved by the Ministry of Education and the approach of Gioberti François, you can go to the following address: www.filtrage.org/