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“Flambant 9” means ‘Brand New’ in French. A title that couldn’t be more appropriate! The challenge was epic: to conceive a theatrical piece, written by teenagers, to be streamed online, in order to adapt to the many lockdowns that have been washing over us in recent years! With the support of TfT, I wanted to make five short films that would showcase the world of theatre and its evocative power through the technical processes of filmmaking. Mixing genres while keeping the authenticity of each story, ensuring that theatre and cinema would come together harmoniously and young viewers would feel challenged.

For this ninth edition of Les Zinspiré.e.s, we received more than 200 creative pieces of writing, in French, from young teenagers from the Greater Toronto Area and Southwestern Ontario. We are proud to present the adaptation of the five stories that stood out the most.

The stories are touching, funny and very on-point. Each story represents a slice of life, an atmosphere, a theme. The authors will share with you their concerns and questions about their sexuality in the age of social media, the pressure we can put on ourselves and the search for an identity, the confrontation of our values with those of our family members, the dilemma of sexual orientation in a context of religious belief, and the socio-economic system that still favours inequalities between men and women.

All of this colossal work has been done by a team of dedicated and talented artists, designers, craftspeople and technicians. Behind every image you see is collaboration, learning, overcoming, resilience, dreams and reflection. Together we rolled up our sleeves and rekindled the flame in each of us, showing perseverance and great courage to face the unknown and complete this ambitious project.

As we slowly emerge from this health crisis, but with uncertainties remaining, presenting this project to you is a breath of fresh air, it is spring knocking at the door, it is stepping back into the light. I want to take off my mask, breathe, and shout:

Thank you to Banka, Zara, Nicolas, Grace, Lily, Karelle, thank you for your ideas, your words and your active participation since the very beginning.

Thank you to Joël Beddows and Ghislain Caron, thank you for giving me wings, for giving me carte blanche as we say, for propelling me, for supporting me, for welcoming me into your artistic family. Thank you for this unconditional trust.

Thank you Karine Ricard, Pierre Simpson and the entire TfT team, you are extraordinary and resilient, you are theatre warriors promoting French-language in Ontario. TfT is tattooed on my heart forever.

Thank you to my incredible team. You made this project possible, unique, unforgettable by putting your hearts into it. Thank you for your trust and your generosity.

And to you, dear audience, thank you for your commitment, your presence. It is for you that we tell stories, that we create shows, that we build bridges in order to encourage dialogue, reflection, openness, always with this visceral need to surpass ourselves.

It is with great pride that we present to you the Zinspiré.e.s: Flambant 9!

Les Zinspiré.e.s : Flambant 9 ! can be streamed via the Webcast section of this Website. For the time being, the series, aimed at Francophone and Francophile youths, is only made available to schools.