MONTREAL— Here is The Canadian Press television column for the week of November 18-24, 2023:
Documentary filmmaker Éli Laliberté, father of a young man with Down syndrome, questions the prenatal screening tests that make it possible to detect this condition in children and whether we can “imagine a world without it”.
This will be the starting point of his search for the documentary film “Lucas, an endangered human species”.
He describes himself as a “Lucas specialist”, his 22-year-old son, without whom he could not imagine the world.
Through his work as a documentary filmmaker, Éli Laliberté wants to show as many people as possible how we can live with Down syndrome.
Anik Larose, who worked at the Quebec Intellectual Disability Society and is the mother of a daughter with Down syndrome, raises societal questions about prenatal screening tests.
“I am not against abortion. I am not pro-life. I am not a pro-choice person. (…) I just always said: “Are we giving couples and women the right information to make a decision?” Is that really free and informed consent? “And I always questioned that and still question it,” Ms. Larose says in the documentary.
ICI Télé – Saturday November 18th, 10:30 p.m
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The Children’s Collectors series
In 2022, star presenter Paul Arcand signed a documentary series on the subject of cyber pedophilia.
The series “Child Collectors” gets to the bottom of police operations and investigations by the Ministry for Child Protection (DPJ) and presents testimonies from victims and criminals.
The series also raises the issue of these photos continuing to circulate on the Internet and the risk of them resurfacing.
The three episodes released last fall on the Vrai platform and directed by André St-Pierre, co-writer of the series with Paul Arcand, are now airing on TVA.
TVA – Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. – Starting November 22nd
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François Bellefeuille’s “Dog Time” series
In the series “Temps de chien”, which he co-wrote, François Bellefeuille plays a veterinarian and businessman and star presenter of successful small-screen shows.
Embroiled in scandal despite his wishes, Antoine Meilleur will go into temporary exile in his home in the Magdalen Islands, where he will meet a pushy man with a vague past who says he no longer lives in the “system”.
He will also be helping out at the Islands Veterinary Clinic, looking in the rearview mirror at the fame and thriving business he left behind.
The new comedy, co-written with Olivier Thivierge and directed by François St-Amant, comprises 12 30-minute episodes.
The cast includes Nathalie Breuer, Robin-Joël Cool, Éric Bernier, Émilie Bibeau, Ariel Ifergan, Gaston Lepage and Ariane Castellanos.
ICI tou.tv Extra – Available now (and available on ICI Télé in January)