SALVADOR ALLENDE

CHILE   •  100′ a film by PATRICIO GUZMAN « I recall September 11, 1973, that dark day when America instigated a coup d’état to bring down the pacifist and democratic revolution that was taking place in a faraway country, Chile, my homeland. Salvador Allende, the President of the Republic, that “son of a bitch‚” as Richard Nixon[…]

SALUDEMOS

CUBA a movie by CECILE PATINGRE Havana, May 1st, 1992 Cuba is passing through one of the most critical moments of its history. May First is a traditional indicator of the situation and gives an idea of the combativeness or weariness of a people confronted to the thousands of difficulties experienced in daily life. Views of[…]

RYTHMS OF RAJASTHAN

RAJASTHAN  •  40′ a film by MICHEL MARRE I traveled the road to Rajasthan to find Gassi Khan, a friend and master of “crotala”, blades of wood, the ancestors of castanets. After Jaipur, the capital, and its brass bands, I went south into the Jaisalmer Desert to live and play music with the itinerant musicians of Khan’s community,[…]

RESTITUTION

CZECH REPUBLIC  •  93′ a movie by CATHERINE ZINS After the”Velvet Revolution”, the heirs of a Czech family pharmaceutical dynasty are reunited. The factory and the pharmacy were nationalized first in 1945, and again in 1948 at the time of the Communist takeover. The family members try to recover their property. FESTIVALS ÉTATS GENERAUX DU FILM[…]

REMEMBERING ROMERO

EL SALVADOR a movie by PETER CHAPPELL A photo of Monseigneur Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, taken eleven months before his assassination in 1980. What has become of these people linked in this photo to the tragic destiny of Mgr Romero? A movement from face to face, from account to account, from the past to the[…]

PROFIT AND NOTHING BUT !

HAÏTI  •  57′ a film by RAOUL PECK Who said the economy serves mankind? What is this world where a third of the population, i.e., the richest countries, or to be more exact, the decision-makers and those who live well in these countries, which lowers the figure, have taken over? A world where the economy is law,[…]

PERMANENT ADDRESS

FRANCE a movie by VALERIE DENESLE, ANNE PEYREGNE The “Brasserie de la Gare”, is a permanent address for its customers: there you can find the home you no longer have. Paulette, the owner lends money to one, helps find the family of another, explains to a third how to obtain his living allowance. Whether Paulette offers[…]

PEOPLE FROM THE SHANTYTOWNS

PORTUGAL  •  88′ a movie by ROBERT BOZZI In 1970, I filmed the Portuguese community of the Saint-Denis shantytown. I saw it in its death throes. However, in the back of a shed, there was a mother and her new born son. Twenty five years later, I wanted to meet again these “people from the shantytowns”, in[…]

PARIS TAXI

FRANCE  •  51′ a film by ROBERT BOZZI In March 2001, Robert Bozzi enrolled in the school of Parisian taxi drivers. In July he obtained his license and became a taxi driver among many others. His difference? Three little cameras inside his car. For four months his backseat becomes a little theatre of Parisian life. The theatre[…]

OUR FRIENDS AT THE BANK

UGANDA/USA  •  84′ a film by PETER CHAPPELL The future of many developing countries is largely dependent on an institution which is already fifty years old, the World Bank. Criticized and questioned as to its utility, and confronted with numerous setbacks, the Bank is going through a perplexing time in regard to deciding what new strategies[…]