For the first time in his career, Benoit Dutrizac is the focus of his documentary series “C’tu just me?”, which starts this Monday on the channel MOI ET CIE.
• Also read: Drama in Laval: Overcoming the unthinkable
• Also read: National Assembly: Should our elected officials be paid better?
• Also read: ‘The world is upside down’: Violence in schools: Government needs to wake up
“It’s a very personal project. Even if you’re writing a novel, you hide behind your characters. I can’t hide from that. It’s my life, I have to take over my reactions completely,” he told the QMI agency.
The journalist, broadcaster and novelist who has worked in communications for more than 40 years is known for his breast pumps and terse interviews, he who is not afraid to speak his mind or to address a guest when needed.
“Sometimes people think I’m crazy! We even had my voice analyzed and I released old home videos that we put into the episodes. In the one dedicated to anger, I say that my father liked making me angry,” revealed the 61-year-old.
“What people say about me is not mine. I can not do anything. But sometimes it’s boring, it’s frustrating and I’m like, “Damn, where’s that coming from, who has anything against me?” And it’s there because I’ve taken on several lobbies over the years.
“Are you just me?” is a question that can easily liven up a dinner with friends. The series tackles a variety of cultural, social, and political issues, including apocalypse glimpses, anger, the fatigue of cooking three times a day, and even pets being treated to tiny onions by their masters.
The QUB radio presenter – he is on the air weekdays from 11am to 1:30pm – is trying to better understand himself and the society in which he operates. He digs into issues by multiplying meetings with scientists, experts or artists, and also giving a voice to people on the street in segments of “Vox Populi”. It’s light, full-bodied and playful. This is the case, for example, when he talks about the apocalypse while an army of zombies is on his heels.
The spirit of the “Francs-shooters”
We also find the spirit of “Francs-tireurs”, the magazine of the Télé-Québec society, in which Benoit Dutrizac officiated from 1998 to 2005 and then from 2013 to 2020, that is to say until the public channel published him in December of the same year switched off. “Are you just me?” brings him back to the small screen after a hiatus of just over two years.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for five years. Initially it was called “My Obscure Obsessions”, but it sounded esoteric. If you ask yourself the question “Are you just me?”, you are asking yourself, but also others. The question is basically, “Am I the only one who thinks that?”
Those who believe Benoit controls Dutrizac think again. He let the team members do their jobs. In particular, he did not interfere in the editing process. “You have to trust others, let them work, they often give you good ideas,” he said.
The documentary series “C’tu just me?” produced by Sphère Média in collaboration with Quebecor Content. moves into the antenna of MOI ET CIE from this Monday at 21:00.