SYNOPSIS

                      

EN

 

In the bayous of southern Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, a band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw natives has resided on the Isle de Jean Charles for seven or eight generations, since the Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced them from their ancestral home. However due to coastal erosion, the Isle de Jean Charles has been disappearing and its diverse wetland ecology has become increasingly imperiled. Dredging of canals in the Gulf of Mexico by oil companies, levee engineering in the Mississippi Delta, rising sea levels, and more frequent and powerful hurricanes precipitated by climate change are the leading causes of this transformation. In recognition of their continued, inevitable displacement, the tribe recently agreed to a resettlement plan with the state and federal governments, that "will help to support and enhance tribal identity, sovereignty, and dignity". But not long afterward, they began to feel sidelined as leaders of the process. Various members of the community appear unwilling to migrate from the place they've spent their entire lives, or abandon their way of life in the marshes. Mostly fisherman by trade, some seem to have few other ways of earning income. Increasingly questioning their isolation, and wavering between resistance and abandonment, these early-stage climate refugees sense the impending loss of community, culture, and environment that is never factored into statistics of economic growth or the price of energy.

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FR

 

Dans deux générations, l’Isle de Jean-Charles, située au sud de la Louisiane et actuellement peuplée par les descendants d’Amérindiens, aura disparu à cause de la montée des eaux, de la fréquence des ouragans et de la fragilisation de son écosystème par la construction de canaux servant les compagnies pétrolières installées dans le Golfe du Mexique avec comme conséquence, la relocalisation des communautés qui y vivent. Dans ce contexte de migration forcée, certains se résignent, d’autres s’accrochent.

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CAST

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Edison Dardar, Chris Brunet, Ochxia Naquin,

Marq Naquin, Judyann Billiot, Denecia Naquin Billiot,

Wencelaus Billiot, Howard Brunet, Juliette Brunet, 

Maryline Billiot, Elizabeth Dardar.

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Written & directed by Francescu Artily

Sound recordist & designer: Jean-Florent Chatillon

Music: Matt Elliott

Cinematography: Francescu Artily

Production coordinator: Léa Pieri

Produced by White Chestnut Production

© Louisiana 2019

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With the contribution of

• Collectivity of Corsica 

• Corsica Linea

• AFC Umani

• Ciné 2000

• Air Corsica

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Distribution: Torch Films

Educational Sales USA, CANADA & AUSTRALIA

> [www.torchfilms.com]

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Distribution SVOD

Tënk (Canada)

> [www.tenk.ca]

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Distribution VOD/SVOD

Les films du 3 Mars (Canada)

> [www.f3m.ca]

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TV BROADCASTING

 

- France Televisions, France 3 – 2020

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AWARD

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* Press Award – Festival du Film Politique 2019

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PAST SCREENINGS | SELECTIONS

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- Opéra Mundi - Frac Sud – (France, 2024)

- Festival Image de Ville – (France, 2022)

- FIFEQ-Montreal – (Canada, 2021)

- Festival Pêcheurs du Monde – (France, 2020)

- Guangzhou International Documentary – (China, 2020)

- Annual Copenhagen Film Festival – (Denmark, 2020)

- Les Rencontres AD HOC – (France, 2019)

- Visions du Réel - Industry – (Nyon, Switzerland, 2019)

- Hot Docs - The Doc Shop – (Toronto, Canada, 2019)

- Festival du Film Politique – (France, 2019)

- Whakapapa Film Festival – (Italy, 2019)

- The Romford Film Festival – (United Kingdom, 2019)

- FIFIG - Festival du Film Insulaire à Groix – (France, 2019)

- Close:Up Edinburgh Docufest – (Scotland, 2019)

- Festival du film de Lama – (France, 2019)

- Festival Passion Cinéma – (France, 2019)

- Institut Stanislas – (France, 2019)