Cecile Thornton, a Franco-American and Lewiston native, and Trésor Mukendi, an asylum seeker from Congo, stand Tuesday in the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston in front of a trailer for the documentary they appear in, “Le Carrefour” (“The Intersection”). Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
LEWISTON — As a teenager, Cecile Thornton became embarrassed by her French-Canadian heritage.
Conscious of the prejudice directed at the Franco community, she suppressed her accent and distanced herself from her native culture.
“I made the decision not to be Francophone,” she explained in “The Intersection,” a 2021 short film shot in Lewiston.
Several years ago, Thornton, now 66, returned to Lewiston, where she sought to reconnect with her Franco roots. In doing so, she discovered an unexpected bond with individuals in Lewiston’s Francophone African community.
Through the perspective of Thornton and Trésor Mukendi, an asylum seeker from Congo, “The Intersection” explores the connections between Lewiston’s Franco-American and Francophone African communities. The film calls attention to the shared experiences of French-speaking immigrants of old and new, while also acknowledging the unique difficulties each group has faced integrating into the city.
Created by New York University professor of French Jessamine Irwin and documentary filmmaker Daniel Quintanilla, the 30-minute film balances a broad view of the immigrant experience in Lewiston with intimate insights into Thornton’s and Mukendi’s lives.
“We sort of looked at what the parallels were, even though there are clear differences between the French-Canadians arriving,” Quintanilla said. “You don’t have the racial stigmatization you would have with new Francophone Africans arriving, so there are differences, but there are a lot of similarities.”
A century ago, the Ku Klux Klan was known to burn crosses on top of Mt. David, targeting the Catholic Franco immigrants. The government, too, participated in suppression efforts. From 1919 to 1969, Maine law forbid speaking French in public schools.
Now, a new wave of French-speaking immigrants from countries including Rwanda and Burundi face similar stigmas, with the added challenge of being Black in America. More than 20 countries in just Sub Saharan Africa list French as their official language.
“To speak about yourself or about the difficulty that you pass in the world is not easy,” said Mukendi, a trained actor. “It wasn’t easy, but it was a good experience. And in the same time, I’m feeling strong telling about this part of vulnerability or the parts of sadness, because it’s a part of history. We have to know what happened.”
“The Intersection,” also known by its French title “Le Carrefour,” received the inaugural Maine Heritage Film Grant, which helped fund the project. At its premier at the Camden International Film Festival, the documentary was awarded the Audience Award for Best Short. Photo courtesy of “The Intersection”
“You have life in this movie,” he added. “It’s not just entertainment, it’s not just for joking. It’s not a game. It’s something true.”
Friends and relatives of Thornton and Mukendi also appear in the film, sharing their own experiences and underscoring the diverse perspectives within each community.
Thornton said she was embarrassed, at times even ashamed, to be Franco-American. Other Franco-Americans in Lewiston have felt the same way, although that experience isn’t representative of the entire community.
“There were people who were proud of it and wore it as a badge,” she said. “I couldn’t get on that wagon. I just couldn’t do it.”
By meeting the Francophone African community, Thornton, born Cecile Desjardins, was able to rediscover her French heritage.
“The Africans came here and they helped change my life,” she said in the film. “I was ashamed, but now I’m proud to be Franco.”
In perhaps the most striking moment of “The Intersection,” Mukendi asks viewers to view himself — and Lewiston’s immigrant community — in a different light.
A grouping of apartments located off Cedar Street in Lewiston still known as “Little Canada” once housed thousands of Franco immigrants working in the mills. Now, many residents in the housing block are African immigrants. Screenshot from “The Intersection.”
“I wish you would look at me as if you were looking at your child, your brother, your mother,” Mukendi said in the film. “Look at me with love. Yes, with love.”
Those who’ve seen the film have found their own stories in it, Quintanilla said.
“Even people who aren’t from the Francophone world who don’t speak French, they sort of see that story of the difficulties of someone arriving to a new place and then finding an ally who’s not only being an ally because she wants to help, she’s getting help as well,” he shared.
FROM ORAL HISTORIES TO LEWISTON FILM
Irwin, a Maine native, co-created a course at New York University exploring Maine’s French heritage. Her students have documented oral histories from native French speakers in Maine, including Thornton.
“The more I saw my students’ work related to that, the more I was like, ‘This is just so incredible, and I wish that there was some way to share this message,’ specifically what’s happening in Lewiston, where we have a connection of Francophone language and cultures.”
She realized that message could best be shared through film, but she didn’t have the experience or technical knowledge to create one on her own. Two mutual contacts helped Irwin and Quintanilla connect.
Winning the inaugural Maine Heritage Film Grant was the launching point for “The Intersection.” The filmmakers’ proposal was selected from 30 submissions, according to Quintanilla.
“As a team, Dany and I both brought a lot to the table,” Irwin said. “I’ve had this background of maybe knowing more about the context . . . in Lewiston, and Danny has this ability to translate a story into film.”
Irwin and Quintanilla were thrilled to receive the grant, but with only months until the Camden International Film Festival, the pressure was on.
“I can’t count how many times through that process I was like, ‘We’re not going to finish, we’re not going to have a film to show,’” Quintanilla said.
Worshipers celebrate Jesus at the Church of All Nations in Lewiston, where Trésor Mukendi and his sister attend. “They are there to help us when we have a problem,” his sister says in the film. “For example, when our older sister passed away, they were there to console us.” Screenshot from “The Intersection.”
Thornton, a friend of Irwin’s for several years, agreed to take part in the film.
“I was thinking it was just going to be . . . no big thing, no one’s going to see it,” she said. “I had just been through a year of COVID and there was a vaccine out. I was ready to do something, you know? I said ‘Sure, I’ll do it.'”
“It was just like talking with family,” she added. “It was just very easy going.”
Mukendi said he took part in the project to help document history and use his skills.
“I just want people to know what is happening here,” he said. “To share with us and to continue to keep the Francophone side who is here, to not let it die.”
At the Camden International Film Festival, “The Intersection,” which is almost entirely in French with English subtitles, won the Audience Award for Best Short. This week, it will run at Independent Film Festival Boston.
“I was extremely moved by (the film),” said Regine Whittlesey, president of Alliance Française du Maine. “I thought it was such a beautiful image of what’s happening in Maine right now. These connections between people who have different cultures but have a common language and how they become friends and they connect with each other and they discover there’s a commonality, just because of the language.”
Alliance Francaise, a Portland-based nonprofit, hosted a screening at the Talbot Auditorium at the University of Southern Maine in March. Over a 100 people attended the event, which included a question and answer session with Thornton, Mukendi, Irwin, and Quintanilla.
“I would hope that the film would be shown everywhere,” Whittlesey said. “I think a lot of children especially coming from immigrant communities would feel so much better if they saw this film and saw that, yes, speaking another language is a . . . chance to communicate with other people, it’s a chance to bring diversity in this place.”
Before they were co-stars in “The Intersection,” Cecile Thornton and Trésor Mukendi became friends at the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston. Screenshot from “The Intersection.”
“I would love to see our governor see this film,” she added. “I would hope that Janet Mills would see the film and then say ‘OK, all schools in Maine will have it.’ That’s my dream.”
Irwin and Quintanilla are currently seeking a partner organization to help bring the film to high school classes across Maine.
“Ideally, a partner that not only wants to help us cover the costs of doing that, but would be involved in getting the film out and being a liaison,” Quintanilla explained.
The University of Maine is hosting a virtual screening of “The Intersection” today, Sunday, April 24, with a question and answer session at 2 p.m. Information to register for the event and gain access to the film Sunday is available on the university’s online event calendar.
The next in-person showing of the film in Maine is scheduled for September in Biddeford and at the University of Maine’s Augusta and Bangor campuses. The film was shown at the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston last fall.
Irwin and Quintanilla said they are on the lookout for more opportunities to share the film, including in Lewiston-Auburn.
“There is a part (in the film) that I was in the church, I was praying,” Mukendi said. “And I was praying for this movie, too. I say, ‘God let this movie (keep going. It’s) an opportunity for me and for my community and for everybody here. And I’d like to . . .'” Mukendi paused, “I cannot tell my secret with God, but I wish good things.”
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