Once Upon My Mother: How Family, Fortitude and a Large Dose of Bashert Changed the Life of Roland Perez
(l-r) Director, Ken Scott, Roland Perez and Jonathan Cohen Photo courtesy Roland Perez
Speaking from Paris, author, lawyer and grandpère to newborn grandson Aleph, Roland Perez is exuberant. He’s describing the “crazy adventure” of how the film, Once Upon My Mother based upon his life story, came to fruition.
Once Upon My Mother is the opening film at the Victoria International Jewish Film Festival, Saturday, October 18, at The Vic Theatre, 808 Douglas Street.
When a friend of Roland gave his book manuscript for My Mother, God and Sylvie Vartan to the French film, production and distribution company Gaumont just before its publication, it set in motion a series of serendipitous events.
“Gaumont called me the very next day for a meeting and said to me ‘trust us, we want to option your book and make a fantastic movie like the one we produced inspired by Canadian singer, Celine Dion because her mother is like the mother in your book!’” Roland relates. “At the beginning they looked for a French director, but everyone was busy. They happened to go to a film festival in France where Canadian director, Ken Scott was receiving a prize and Gaumont told him he must do this film. Ken said he had to go back to Canada but asked them to send the book to his agent. But the day after, he caught Covid and couldn’t fly back so he was stuck in France and read the manuscript while convalescing. He said immediately, ‘I want to make this movie!’”
Set in 1960s France, the story revolves around a Jewish immigrant family living in the suburbs of Paris. Roland, the youngest is born with a clubfoot. His mother Esther, played by the sensational Algerian French actress, Leïla Bekhti, is told by doctors that her child will never walk.
That edict was like flashing a red flag in front of a bull. Esther refuses to accept his disability and does everything in her power to ensure Roland lives a normal life to the point of deluding herself. Her obsession with his well- being lingers into his adulthood and becomes a suffocating embrace.
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- Photo: Marie-Camille Orlando © 2024 Gaumont – Egérie Productions
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- Photo: Marie-Camille Orlando © 2024 Gaumont – Egérie Productions
“You know my mother lived in a different reality because as the youngest of six I had to be exactly like the other children. But she needed this unrealistic expectation in order to fight for me,” Roland confides. “I had three operations and a splint attached to a corset for 18 months,” he continues. “And frankly, I liked the attention, I liked to crawl like a baby on the floor in the apartment, I was happy like that.”
“So all I did all day long was watch television and my older sister was fascinated by a famous French singer and actress, Sylvie Vartan. (hence the title of the book.) She became my idol and ironically I met her when I was an adult and we became friends.”
The casting for the role of Esther was a no-brainer: “We all, all, all including Ken Scott, wanted Leïla Bekhti because she is from Algeria and my mother was from Morocco and you know if you saw a photo of my mother when she was young, the resemblance was incredible,” says Roland who was the consultant on the film. “But after a few weeks of no response and her agent didn’t even read the script to convince her, we thought we’d have to look for someone else. Meantime Leïla invited another actor for dinner and the manuscript was sitting on the table. He said ‘at least read the first page and see.’ So she went into another room and came out and said ‘I’m reading the role of my life!’”
“She in turn told a friend of hers ‘to read the script’ and that was Jonathan Cohen who ended up playing me as an adult,” laughs Roland. The delightful and compelling little boy, Naim Naji, who portrays Roland as a child had never acted before.
Roland, who is a lawyer specializing in intellectual property and in practice with his daughter, Ludivine, has written a third book that has already been optioned for a film. Once Upon My Mother has been sold to 55 countries including Israel. “We asked Canada to submit the film for Oscar consideration but unfortunately, we just found out that it wasn’t chosen,” he confirms.
“You know, he adds, “I think this film is very inspirational on so many levels and you wouldn’t believe all the people who have since written to me who have a child with a clubfoot.”
