Documentarians are not always approached by their subjects, especially when the topic is as sensitive as abuse. Connie Robillard approached me in late October 2005 to produce an educational piece based on a book she co-wrote with Marcel Duclos. After reading the book, I felt that, in order to reach more people, we would need to bring the documentary to a more personal level.

I hadn’t met Marcel until the first day of interviews. I had been warned that he wasn’t the easiest of people to get along with. My first impression of him was that he was incredibly intelligent, extremely witty, but not so willing to answer my questions. As a first time director, I must admit, I was pretty nervous. He was a challenge, but with time and a lot of resistance, he learned to trust me and let me into his life. The interviews in the documentary represent the second time Marcel has ever expressed, faced, or even discussed, his past experiences in the public eye. It took him five-plus decades to come to terms with this, for the first time, when he began writing it down on paper for the book.

Connie, on the other hand, was more willing to share her story. Her stories were no dilution of Marcel’s, but I could tell that Connie was well into the healing process, not that you can ever heal from something so horrible. What I got from her was that, by expressing herself openly and surrounding herself by friends and family she could trust, Connie was able to at least make it day-by-day. Painting, for Connie, is very therapeutic; writing the book also aided the healing process. It was amazing watching Connie open up even further, to herself and to others. It was an emotional journey and when this project came to an end, she told me very sincerely, that the process had changed her self-perception.

I come from an artistic background, and thanks to Connie and Marcel’s trust, I was able to infuse a lot of my artistic vision into the documentary. The entire piece has very beautiful, peaceful and reflective moments, which some people have said are therapeutic. The opening scene to “Common Threads” shows children playing beside the ocean on a peaceful beach in New Hampshire. The beauty and innocence of the children are a harsh contrast from the stories being told. The book interweaves poetry with stories and personal journeys. In order to stay true to the essence of the book, I envisioned dream-like moments of water, nature, and innocence, allowing the viewer to reflect, pause and take a moment to breathe. Because the healing process is ever going, I wanted the pace of the documentary to reflect a slow moving, personal journey. I utilized cinematic techniques such as long shots, fluid camera movement, and a musical score to achieve this feeling.

One of the major reasons behind doing this project was to allow Connie and Marcel to tell their story and encourage others to do the same; hopefully I helped on some level.

I want people to walk away from this, not only inspired by Connie and Marcel’s courage, but to realize that everything on the surface is not always as it seems. People act the way they do for a reason. There are many things that happen from day to day in people’s lives that we know nothing about. If a child, or anyone, has something to tell you, listen. Sometimes their message isn’t so hidden.