A Thousand Mysteries, A Thousand Perils: If Fantasies Come True

Novelist A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers, Alain Farah, received dozens of proposals from creators who wanted to bring his work to the screen. An avid reader, filmmaker Philip Fallard won the commission to turn this award-winning novel into a film.

Last October, Alain Farah received an email from a Quebec director he had long admired. Philip Fallard read his novel A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers (published in 2021 by Le Quartanier Publisher) and wanted to make a film of it.

At the same time working on the series Raspberry timeThe director was so interested in the film adaptation — and other creators eyed the project — that he agreed to go through the process of getting the project started faster than usual.

“We met everyone to see their vision, explains the 43-year-old author, who signed his third novel here. We want to know their artistic point of view, and when you expose people to this question, you quickly understand a lot of things. »

While the meeting with Falardo took place last December, the final signature was affixed less than two weeks ago. Long conversations as well as various technical and artistic stages, for their part, provided the last months of the two creators.

“It’s really beautiful, starting a writer who already has a lot of admiration for Philip Fallard. I know his work well, I’m connected to his cinema and I grew up with his vision of the world. A global destination race. I know he has the will to make the novel into a very personal movie, which is great, because I still tell my life there under real names (smile) »

Expected fantasy

Farah describes the confirmation that her work will be brought to the big screen as an aspirational fantasy. His 498-page novel – which took him eight years of work – is driven by a writing that “has a dialogue with cinema”, he believes.

“In writing, Philip and I give ourselves time,” continues the man, who claims to have no experience in movies but is willing to learn.

“We want to get into the project already and take the time to do things right. It will be Philip’s scene, but I will be there to help him. In fact, I will be at his service and observe what he has to offer me while trying to parenthesize that this is my book. »

While it’s still too early to speculate on the names of the actors who will be cast, the author — born in Montreal to Egyptian-Lebanese parents — knows that one of the film’s challenges will be to do justice to this reality. Illustrated in the novel: Egyptian and Lebanese society in Montreal.

With unusual enthusiasm for his autobiographical novel, which tackles whirlwind and important themes (family, migration, mourning, suffering, money, religion), he doesn’t try to explain it.

However, when asked, he replies that it is probably due to many things, including the subject and the right timing.

“There has to be a match between what you’ve done and where people are studying,” he explains. At the moment, we are listening to Quebecers of immigrant origin who are beginning to tell the stories of their Quebec past, but with a different, different trajectory. »

“My book tackles the issue of racism in a more singular way, with a character who decides to actively reject his immigrant side, which has dire consequences. »

• The novel A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers Finalist for the Prix des libraires du Québec 2022 and finalist for the Prix Littéraire des Collegiens 2022 by Alain Farah.