RETURNING TO REIMS
Return to Reims is a film based on the eponymous novel by Didier Eribon. It tells an intimate and political story about the French working class from the early 1950s to the present day. The backbone of France’s progress were the workers’ backs: the children of the workers in the 1950s were very quickly pushed out of school towards their jobs, while the bourgeois children easily continued their education. It was especially difficult for the working class women who, in addition to all the class inequalities, had to suffer the chauvinistic mentality of the whole society.
At one point, the support and carrier of change was the Communist Party. However, this feeling of belonging did not last long either – it would disappear before the end of the 20th century, when the Communist Party of France began to adhere to anti-immigrant rhetoric and thus contributed to the strengthening of the right wing
Born in France in 1974, Jean-Gabriel Périot has made several short films on the frontier of documentary, experimental, and fiction. He developed his own style of film editing that explores violence and history using film and photography archives. His films, Dies Irae, Even if She had been a Criminal, Nijuman no borei (200,000 Phantoms) and The Devil have received awards from several festivals around the world. His first feature length film, A German Youth, opened the Panorama section of the 2015 Berlinale before being released in German, French and Swiss movie theaters and receiving multiple awards.
Summer Lights, his first feature-length fiction, premiered at the San Sebastian film festival and was released in France in the summer of 2017. Our Defeat was presented at the Forum for the 2019 Berlinale and Returning to Reims, based on the book by Didier Eribon and narrated by Adèle Haenel, was selected for the Director’s Fortnight at 2021 Cannes film festival.
Cannes Film Festival 2021
Guanajuato International Film Festival 2021
San Sebastián International Film Festival 2021
Returning to Reims (fic.)
Director: Jean Gabriele-Periot
Country: France
Year: 2021.
Runtime: 83’
Language: French
Cast: Adèle Haenel (glas)
Production: Les Films de Pierre, Arte France, INA
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