Created more than 30 years ago, Crésus supports 32,000 households in France each year. The association was the source of inspiration for Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano for the film “A Difficult Year”, which is released in cinemas on Wednesday.
“When I gave the money to my partner, he didn’t pay his share of the rent. When I tried to ask him about it, I ended up with a cut lip.” Adelaide owes 14,000 euros to its owner. She is received in the offices of Crésus, which supports people in situations of over-indebtedness. This association inspired the film A difficult year, which comes out Wednesday, October 18. After Untouchables And The meaning of the celebrationOlivier Nakache and Eric Toledano feature Jonathan Cohen and Pio Marmaï, two characters in financial difficulty who engage with environmental activists.
“It weighs on morale, but I’m fighting. I won’t give up, no, no way!” Adelaide’s situation deteriorated overnight. Albane, the lawyer who accompanies him, has worked for Crésus for two years.“When you are not born a millionaire or with a lot of money, at some point in your life, you may very well experience one or more payment incidents and you may find yourself, as they say, in trouble,” explains the lawyer, which underlines that we must stop attaching the image of a lost basket to people who are over-indebted.
More and more women overindebted
“Often, these are consumer credit debts. This is what we commonly call ‘gearing’, adds Albane. People take a first loan, then another loan to finance the first and they don’t get by.” 10,000 households are supported each year in the Paris region alone, and 32,000 nationally.
Since the creation of the Crésus association more than 30 years ago in Alsace, Jean-Louis Kiehl, the founder and president of the network, has seen “an evolution among women, single-parent homes. Women who find themselves raising their children all alone. We have seen seniors in difficulty, today we have elderly people who come to the aid of their daughter who has just divorced , of their granddaughter who is unemployed. You sometimes have three generations who come to see you and all three are having difficulties.”
Jean-Louis Kiehl, who directly inspired directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, was able to see the film before its release on Wednesday. “The film is admirable because despite the worries, the difficulties and the demands, ultimately it is love that ends up triumphing…”
The number of over-indebtedness files is up 6% over the first nine months of 2023 compared to the previous year, the Banque de France announced on Tuesday October 17. She describes this increase as “moderate”, contrary to what inflation might have predicted. One year after the launch of the 34 14 number to facilitate access to people in financial difficulty, the Banque de France noted a 34% increase in requests for support or requests for information.
Immersed in the Crésus association, which inspired the film “A Difficult Year” – Report by Valentin Houinato