In 1972, an initiative already very popular in France (Connaissance du monde) was to create a veritable frenzy in Quebec. Under the impetus of travel enthusiasts, Serge Martin, Pierre Valcour and François Prévost, Les Grands explorers wanted to show the world on the big screen, offering globe-trotting filmmakers the opportunity to present their films, but also to comment on them in front of an audience. Before the pandemic, when we were already thinking of the 50e anniversary of the organization, it had 40,000 subscribers and a program showing in 53 theaters across Quebec reaching 350,000 spectators.
Dreams of Africaof the marvelous duo of Muammer Yilmaz and Milan Bihlmann, also nicknamed the ” optimistic travelers “, launched the 50e season last September. During his presentation at the Salle Pierre-Mercure in Montreal, where The dutywas present, some funny incidents punctuated the event. First, the two filmmakers landed on stage in sandals, far from a certain formal image associated with the ritual of this organization, Muammer Yilmaz even brandishing his camera to film the one who was responsible for presenting them to the public, André Maurice, director speakers. Not at all destabilized, the latter took the opportunity to ask if there were loyal subscribers for 50 years in the room: a few hands were raised! And finally, in the second part, a child still wearing the diaper on his buttocks punctuated the film with his repeated tears.
Without being seen as powerful symbols, these anecdotes bear witness to both a glorious past and a changing future. This is noticeable in the choice of these two intrepid ones, whose previous films speak volumes about their temerity: Compostela without luggage, Around the world in 80 days without a penny, etc. And COVID-19 has not dampened their enthusiasm. “I spent six months sleeping alone in the high mountains and under the stars in the Pyrenees,” says Milan Bihlmann, a German with impeccable French. Unfortunately, there will always be a war, a pandemic, a natural disaster in the years to come, but you don’t have to hide behind that to stay at home. »
As for Muammer Yilmaz, a Turk living in France, the chaos of the last two years has pushed him towards “yoga, writing and the importance of learning things. When I had to stay at home, I never felt confined, and in 2021, I still traveled to 23 countries. »
Going to meet others is the primary motivation of these “brothers of travel and life” when shooting a film like Dreams of Africa ; from South Africa to Ethiopia, chance led them to people who could use a little or a big helping hand. Here a roof to be repaired, there a video to promote a candidacy for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, nothing can resist the enthusiasm of these two nomads who prefer hitchhiking to bus, train or plane. A journey guided less by a GPS than by the heart.
The Great Explorers have accustomed us to much more serious cinema-speakers. We are not trying to completely transform a formula that continues to please, even if the last two years, only online, have left their mark.
“A season is being prepared from March, and we had the green light for a return to theaters last July, says André Maurice, who has also presented several films at the Grands explorers, in particular on Quebec and on Argentina. We lost spectators [la moyenne d’âge est d’environ 52 ans], but they come back quietly. We are hopeful. »
To attract them this year, he is obviously counting on dream destinations: the Azores, the Philippines, Greenland, and even Iran, which is talked about a lot these days, but very little as a travel destination…
Travel shapes the young
Rejuvenating the audience is a challenge, admits André Maurice, who attends several festivals where films by young adventurers are featured, presented to packed houses. However, it is due to a diversity of themes (“These filmmakers seek a lot to convey messages, especially on climate change”) and countries (“Our goal is to show distant and unknown lands”).
Muammer Yilmaz and Milan Bihlmann are not the first to bring an air of youth to the Great Explorers. Mélanie Carrier still remembers with enthusiasm her baptism alongside her spouse and film partner, Olivier Higgins. Biologists by training, lovers of travel, climbing and challenges, they have traveled 8,000 kilometers by bike, from Mongolia to the Ganges plain in India, via China.Asiamut (2007) describe this perilous trajectory. “Our first objective was to make a film without knowing if we were going to succeed, remembers the co-director ofWandering without return with amusement. Let’s say it was an adventure within an adventure! »
It was profitable and exhilarating for them. “In addition to having been selected for the Great Explorers – everyone told us that would be the case! — we toured Belgium and Switzerland for several months with Exploration du monde. We were in front of full rooms, sometimes of 1000 people – and to think that I was convinced that this was the world of documentaries! (Laughs) What made our strength was to present ourselves without pretension, and especially not as great explorers. »
This successful kick-off had a decisive influence on their approach (“Being interested in others, in other cultures, to understand them and better understand oneself”). This later made it possible to interest Switzerland in their documentary Quebecoisie(2013), on relations between Quebecers and First Nations.
The good-natured approach of Muammer and Milan, like that of Mélanie and Olivier, delights Jean-Michel Dufaux, eternal globetrotter, animator and designer of the series Thai toweron Évasion, also author of My year abroad. Slow travel story (Scent of ink). For the son of the late filmmaker Georges Dufaux, Les Grands explorers still have their place, because they continue to present films on the big screen, “where the conditions are optimal, in addition to discussions with film speakers. Their real strength is the human experience”.
Touch the human
However, the Internet has changed everything, including our relationship with foreign destinations. At a time when seeing the whole world is accessible on a television, computer and telephone screen, thanks to National Geographic, BBC Travel, Planète+, etc., Jean-Michel Dufaux believes that their films “must stick more to humans than to landscapes, because you can see that everywhere on YouTube”. “In 1972, it met a legitimate need, the offer was not very abundant. But I also felt that the filmmakers excluded themselves from the political, from the social, opting for a more didactic approach to satisfy travel enthusiasts. »
As much the filmmakers of Dreams of Africa than those ofAsiamut preferred to follow their instinct rather than a certain formula, an authenticity which moreover pleased the Great Explorers. “The dream of any director is to share his work, and that’s what they offer us”, underlines Milan Bihlmann.
” By the end of the year, dreams from Africa will be screened more than 150 times, says Muammer Yilmaz, and I see that it still touches the humanity of the spectators, their hearts. »