After wanting to organize the first black protest march in France in his mockumentary just black (2020), Jean-Pascal Zadi imagines himself as a presidential candidate in Insteadsix-episode comedy series available from this Friday on Netflix.
In line with servant of the people by Volodymyr Zelensky, Instead plunges Stéphane Blé (Zadi), an educator from Bobigny, into the presidential campaign. Playing candor in a world he has no codes for, he is accompanied by a lawless and faithless eminence grise (Eric Judor).
Like in just blackwhere he plays his own role, Zadi embodies in Instead a character inspired by his life, a loser driven by an impossible project that nobody believes in. “It’s a bit of the story of my life,” this self-taught director, who started by self-financing amateur films, confirms to BFMTV.
“I hope young people see”
With Instead, Zadi wants to “deconstruct the limits” that blacks place on themselves. “When you are black in France, you subconsciously know that there will never be a black president. We didn’t even dream of that. Maybe with time that will change. This series is made to open the imagination. It is an ode to the achievement of each one.”
Chaining a hit movie with a streaming series follows a similar logic: pushing the limits: “I want to go where I feel like,” he explains. “I felt that Netflix was the right place for a series on this topic to be accessible to young people. Netflix is a good popular vehicle.”
“I hope young people see,” he adds. “The message is that we belong everywhere, that we are at home [en France]. It is important that it is heard by young people. And not only for the young people who grow up in the urbanizations. Also for young peasants and young workers. I want us to stop limiting ourselves.”
“No Limit on No Joke”
This fear of limits is all the more surprising since Zadi does not consider any of them: in vitro fertilization, rural unrest, disability… the comedian addresses all the issues in Instead. The first episode ends with Dirty Whore Mariannea parody of The Mafia K’1 Fry clips “where he was swearing at full speed”.
“I can’t make a light comedy, detached from reality. What I prefer is to talk about our society, have fun with borderline things. Doing works is my way of getting involved. Comedy is a weapon. and you have to use it to say what you want to say. I want to move my country forward.”
He was careful not to make Corinne Douanier (Marina Foïs), a parody of EELV deputy Sandrine Rousseau, look ridiculous. “Changing the angle of raising young children in society, harmful male domination… I agree! I can’t fuck with anyone I agree with.”
“I don’t put limits on any joke because I trust people’s intelligence,” he says. “Then I avoid hurting people. If I know there is something that is painful or embarrassing, I remove it.”
“Netflix is a box”
He himself was careful not to appear on the screen in a favorable light. If the first few episodes suggest that he will prove to be a political genius, the more the series progresses, the more bewildered his character becomes and the more beside himself. “He sinks into an environment that is not his and whose codes he does not master”, Zadi specifies.
Like in just black, his character is armed with “good intentions” but is shown with “nuances”. “He did shit, he has borderline relatives. That’s what makes it real,” Zadi insists. “Just because you have a commendable fight doesn’t mean you’re not a jerk in other matters.”
Although limits are meant to be pushed, it is often difficult to push them too far. Marianne, dirty whore sparked “a lot of debate” on Netflix, notes Zadi: “It was much more raw than that. We took stuff out and John Waxx [co-réalisateur de Tout simplement noir, NDLR] He told me that I had done well.”
I was freer just blackHe assures: “It was for the cinema. There was no canvas, there were no standards. Netflix is a box. You have to correspond to a box, people should not zape. They wanted it to be popular, fast-paced.” comedy. just blackThey didn’t ask me for anything because of the rhythm”.
“It’s part of the game”
From his César to the best male hope in 2021, the opportunities have multiplied. “I have a little more credit now,” says the actor. He is currently in Bordeaux where he is on tour with Vincent Macaigne. Why do you smilea comedy “about a homeless man who wants to get ahead and pretends to be a migrant.”
Then he will continue with dog test, a comedy by and with Laetitia Dosch about the trial of a dog sentenced to death after repeatedly biting humans. and he will be in love ughGilles Lellouche’s new film after the success of Big bathroom.
“Those who can’t please me will find it boring,” laughs Zadi. “Even Bob Marley had detractors. It’s not me, JP Zadi, who won’t have any. That’s life. It’s part of the game.”
“A film that is daring”
Zadi is also writing her second feature, which she hopes to shoot later this year. Entitled the wretched of the earth (title inspired by a book by Franz Fanon, a leading figure in anti-colonialism), collaborates with screenwriter Hélène Bararuzunza. Director Alice Diop, whose film Saint Omer campaigns for the Oscars, also participates.
“It’s going to be amazing,” he enthused. “This is a daring movie. People will wonder how we dared to go this far. I’m on page 60 of 110 of the script.” At the same time, he was dedicated to writing season 2 ofInsteadwhose validation is subject to the hearings of the former.
And if the series is cancelled, it won’t be a drama for the comedian, who is full of ideas. “I made my first film at 37 or 38. By the time I had these fits, there are a lot of things that have matured in my head. I have a lot of ideas.”
Source: BFM TV
