A Thousand Secrets, A Thousand Dangers: When Imaginations Become Reality

The author of the novel A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers, Alain Farah has received dozens of proposals from creators who want to bring his work to the screen. An avid reader, filmmaker Philippe Falardo won the commission to turn the award-winning novel into a film.

Last October, Alain Farah received an email from a Quebec director he had long admired. Philippe Falardeau had read his novel A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers (published in 2021 by Le Quartanier publisher) and wanted to make it into a movie.

Work simultaneously in series Raspberry timeThe director was so interested in the film adaptation — knowing that other creators were also keeping an eye on the project — that he agreed to go faster than usual in the process of getting the project off the ground.

“We met all of them to see their point of view, explains the 43-year-old writer, who signed his third novel here. We wanted to know their artistic point of view, and when you express this question to people, you quickly understand many things. »

If the meeting with Falardo took place last December, the final signature was signed two weeks ago. Long conversations and various technical and artistic stages have, for their part, provided the last months of the two creators.

“It’s very beautiful, starting the author who already had a great admiration for Philippe Falardo. I know his work well, I am attached to his cinema, I grew up in his view of the world. Global target race. I know he wanted to make the novel into a more personal movie, which is good because I still tell my life using real names (laughter) »

Belief is imagination

Farah describes it as a promising fantasy that ensures her work will be brought to the big screen. His 498-page novel — which took him eight years of work — is guided by the writing, he believes, as a “conversation with cinema.”

“In writing, we give ourselves time, Philip and I,” continues the narrator, who has no experience in cinema but is willing to learn.

“We want to dive 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 I will take care of what he offers me while trying to bracket that this is my book. »

While it’s still too early to speculate on the names of the actors who will make up the cast, the author — born in Montreal to Lebanese parents from Egypt — knows that doing justice to this reality will be one of the film’s challenges. Depicted in that novel: The Egyptian and Lebanese community in Montreal.

As for Hurricane and his exceptional enthusiasm for his autobiographical novel, which deals with important themes (family, immigration, grief, suffering, money, religion), he does not attempt to explain it.

However, when questioned, he replied that it could be due to a series of factors, including the subject matter and the right time to do so.

“There has to be a coincidence between what you’ve done and where people are reading,” he explains. This time, we hear that Quebecers of immigrant descent are beginning to tell the stories of their Quebec past, but with a different kind, a different trajectory. »

“My book deals with the issue of racism in a very singular way, a character decides to actively deny his immigrant side, which has terrible consequences. »

• novelty A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers Written by Alain Farah was a finalist for the Prix des Libraires du Québec 2022 and a finalist for the Prix Literaire des Collegiens 2022.