From Switzerland, we know the chocolate sweets, its Lake Geneva, its cheese. More rarely his cinema. It is however inventive, rich and audacious, it is this little-known facet that the Douarnenez Film Festival (Finistère) wanted to honor for its 44th edition. “We chose it because it is a multilingual country, with minorities. We wanted to remove stereotypes and show a different Switzerland, an alternative Switzerland, struggles, feminist fights”, explains Valérie Pouchard, the festival’s film programmer.
Thanks to more than a hundred films that will be screened throughout the festival, it is a complete immersion in the 7th art (Swiss or not) that is offered to visitors. The films are grouped into six different categories. “Helvètes Underground” brings together Swiss screenings such as The family about the home life of a gang of teenage girls. Its director Frédéric Baillif will be present to discuss with the public.
Conversely, the section “Regards d’ici” highlights Breton productions, like the documentary Trees die standing by the director from Morbihan, Ronan Kerneur and Fany Fulchiron. Through the prism of his camera, the Breton recounts the struggle of the inhabitants of Cherán in Mexico against the wild deforestation carried out by violent traffickers.
The festival is also committed. The “Questions de genre” section tackles this subject at the heart of the news with several encounters and feature films. The “Le Monde des Sourd.es” section shows films with subtitles for the hearing impaired or accompanied by an interpretation in French sign language. Workshops are organized for those who would like to learn this language from professionals.
Finally, exhibitions are to be discovered on the sidelines of the festival. The fantastic and offbeat world of the creators of the surprising poster for this 2022 edition is revealed at the Miettes de Bale gallery. While not far from there, in Place des Halles, photographs retrace the rescue operations in the Mediterranean through the portraits of female volunteers or survivors.
Douarnenez Film Festival, until August 27, online ticketing