January 25, 2008 (Montreal, QC) – Geneviève Jeanson, the former “Golden Girl” of cycling in Canada who admitted on Radio Canada’s “Enquete” program in September 2007 to doping with EPO (erythropoietin) almost all of her career, may see her life story turned into a film reports La Presse.

The provisional title is “L’histoire d’un mensonge” (“The Truth of the Lie” — working title) and the work will be realized by Alexis Durand-Brault and produced by Richard Lalonde while Claude Lalonde is writing the script. Jeanson has already signed a contract with Forum Films to this effect. Forum Films is Richard Lalonde’s production company.

Durand-Brault and Richard Lalonde have previously worked together with considerable success in the Quebec film market. Claude Lalonde has also achieved success in this market. The three have also met Jeanson many times since her public admissions of EPO use and claim their film will go beyond where “Enquete” went, detailing why the cyclist doped and how she felt caught in the gears of a machine.

While incorporating many real events and personalities, the film plot will apparently be “inspired” by Jeanson’s life story, rather than trying to reproduce it exactly. Durand-Brault adds that the film will be a metaphor, describing a society ready to do anything to achieve success.

In an apparent misprint, La Presse writes that the script should be finished by November, 2007 which we assume should read 2008. Lalonde raised the possibility of exporting the film to France but there was no discussion of an English version of the film. Durand-Brault and Richard Lalonde did, however, produce an English version of their recent “Ma Fille, Mon Ange” (“My Daughter, My Angel”).

For the full story click here.

We received the following release on the film after posting this news.

FILM INSPIRED BY THE STORY OF GENEVIÈVE JEANSON
TO BE PRODUCED BY FORUM FILMS

MONTREAL, Thursday, January 24, 2008 — Producer Richard Lalonde of Forum Films is currently at work on a script about doping in sports. The project, whose central theme will be “the price to pay for of success,” will be directed by Alexis Durand-Brault (Ma fille mon ange and La Galère [co-director]).

The fictional film will be based on the life of Geneviève Jeanson. The creative team decided to develop the project after meeting the athlete several times. “L’histoire d’un mensonge” (“The Truth of the Lie” — working title) will reveal the athlete’s true story. The film will be written by Claude Lalonde (writer, Les 3 p’tits cochons). Forum Films holds the exclusive rights to the story (www.forumfilms.ca).

The script is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.