Born in Kigali, Rwanda, exile during the Tutsi genocide, modest upbringing in a city, passion for basketball and victory in the Miss France 2000 competition… In An unexpected destinyher first TV film as a director, Sonia Rolland draws inspiration from her own story to bring the main character to life, Nadia, played by Esther Rollande. Coming soon to the 5th season of Criminal Tropics, the 42-year-old actress now goes behind the camera to tell the autobiographical story of an aspiring basketball player who eventually becomes a beauty queen. And even, the first Miss France from the African continent, as she recalled on the podcast microphone Shadows and lightsof Current wife And Tele-Leisure. A new notoriety which was accompanied at the time by racism towards the mixed-race actress and her parents, in particular her mother Landrada, of Rwandan origin.
The racist letters that Sonia Rolland received after her election to Miss France 2000
In Sonia Rolland’s TV film, broadcast on France 2 on January 3, 2024, we witness a shocking scene where the protagonist’s mother receives an envelope filled with excrement in her mailbox. “It’s a true anecdote that has been repeated. And not just once! Once I became Miss Burgundy, it became hell for them. It confirmed my mother’s fear at the time. When I understand everything they are going through, I tell myself that I have no choice but to win!” she explained on Isabelle Dhombres’ microphone, revealing that her father Jacques, former director of a printing house in Rwanda, lost his job after pushing her to enter the Miss France competition. He died in 2014 at age 71 following a long illness. “Mom received crappy envelopes, I also received some in letters. You’d have to be a damn psychopath to send that!”, she added again. After her coronation as Miss France, Mareva Galanter’s successor experienced a wave of racist hatred, particularly from supporters of the National Front. Violent letters and letters claiming that it did not represent a supposed vision of “the real France”.