Series "Sur le fil" humanizes homelessness beyond consumption and mental health stereotypes
The Radio-Canada drama, airing this fall, was developed with input from Mission Old Brewery and other shelter organizations eager to counter media clichés about people experiencing homelessness.
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A new television series is set to reshape how Québec sees homelessness. "Sur le fil," filming now and airing this fall on Radio-Canada, centres the daily reality of a support centre for people experiencing homelessness — but refuses the familiar reductionism of media coverage.
"Il y a beaucoup de préjugés à défaire," said Etienne Desgagnés, communications director at Mission Old Brewery, one of Quebec's and Canada's largest shelter organizations. "On espère que Sur le fil va aller au-delà des enjeux de consommation et de santé mentale." Despite reservations, he called himself "excité" about the series.
Scenarist Pascale Renaud-Hébert grew up around this world. Her parents founded a community organization in Saint-Eustache 37 years ago to support people experiencing homelessness; her father later entered politics, and her mother still leads the group. Before writing, Renaud-Hébert conducted extensive research — online, on the ground, listening to people's testimonies — and had actors meet shelter workers to ground their performances in real life.
The cast members' characters carry "diversité de bagages et surtout d'histoires," Renaud-Hébert emphasized, far from clichés of homelessness. Eve Ferreira-Aganier, at Accueil Bonneau, another major shelter, stressed the importance of sincerity in how actors deliver the script — intervention work is fundamentally about trust and human connection, not instruction.
Desgagnés noted a critical shift: "Depuis la pandémie, on voit vraiment que l'itinérance se rajeunit, se féminise et se régionalise." Homelessness is not a monolith, and the series aims to prove it.
