2023-10-10 09:00:00
A hard worker who is very attentive to the people and the world around her, Karina Marceau shines wherever she goes. Journalist, presenter, director and producer, this globetrotter has a series of exciting projects, which never go unnoticed.
“It’s always strange to find yourself on this side of the microphone,” says Karina Marceau with a smile, sitting down in a bakery in the Saint-Sauveur district, where she lives, in Quebec.
This year, the documentary filmmaker is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her independent production company, Les Productions du 5e monde. “Yes, it’s a bit of an achievement,” she admits, referring to the very fierce international competition.
Tour of 13 countries
Karina Marceau has just completed an 18-month tour in 13 foreign countries for her most recent series which will be broadcast on TV5, Dark side.
She proposes to debunk stereotypes regarding these countries, such as that Africa is only a poor continent where people die of hunger, or that in India, all women are bullied and isolated.
To carry out this project, she made several trips back and forth, because she is also the mother of an adorable eight-year-old boy for whom she wants to be present.
“For example, it was three weeks in Asia, return to Quebec, then three weeks in the Middle East, return to Quebec, and so on,” she says. I’m happy to have great health.”
First an athlete
Karina Marceau believes she owes this health in part to the fact that she was an athlete in a former life. Before becoming a journalist, she was a member of the Canadian long track speed skating team.
“I don’t know what I would have become without sport. It channeled my energy and it’s a basis on which I can still capitalize today,” she emphasizes.
Canadian champion, she took part in numerous championships and world cups, in the same cohort as the current minister Isabelle Charest, in particular.
The only girl among five children, Karina was in constant competition with one of her older brothers, Richard, who would later become a member of the Bloc Québécois. “Somehow it has a lot to do with my career. But it wasn’t easy, we fought at the time,” she says.
As luck would have it, at the age of six, she got on the ice alongside this brother who practices speed skating, and she skated faster than him… Then she started training and finished second in a regional competition.
Skating will be part of his life for 15 years, leading him to travel a lot.
Fascination for India
When she left the competition, believing that she had done the trick, Karina Marceau took part in a national competition for young sports reporters at Radio-Canada, which she won. “It’s funny because it’s my brother Richard, who I talk to today every day […]which put me on the trail for this competition.”
This gave her the chance to cover the Commonwealth Games on the radio in 1994. After which she was hired by TQS, then by TVA, where she worked as a journalist, but also as a newsreader and host of the popular show JE
For several years, however, she had dreamed of going on an adventure. The premature death of her mother, at age 49 following a clot, pushed her to think and do everything possible to make this dream come true.
The documentary seems to him to be the best way to do it.
At the same time, the call of India has been felt since adolescence. At 15, Karina Marceau read This night freedom, regarding Gandhi and the epic independence of India. For the first time, she realized the importance of literature, and developed a fascination for this country. “I’ve been eight or nine times since then,” she says.
It was at this time that she discovered the Young Musicians of the World organization, and a family from Saguenay who dropped everything to take part in a mission to India.
“I said, ‘I have to meet them and film them on this trip,’” she recalls. This will give birth to When music changes destinies, documentary broadcast in 2005.
Then, in 2007, the director had the idea of tackling selective abortion in India. His very impactful film was presented in numerous festivals around the world. It is surely his most striking work, among nearly thirty.
A bridge between cultures
Throughout her achievements, Karina Marceau collects awards. To talk regarding the international, she believes, we need a bridge between international issues and us. “People must also feel that we are interested in them with respect, sincerity and listening. I tell people: ‘Trust me, you won’t be disappointed’.”
She is also very proud to pursue her career while living in Quebec. In recent months, she founded, with Karine Awashish and director Martine Morand, the regional production company Niska Media, focused on indigenous values and tradition.
One idea doesn’t wait for the other in fact, and Karina brings up a few of them while we chat. So, as you can guess, she is far from having said her last word.
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