Combat au bout de la nuit

Fighting Through the Night

Panorama Dokumente 2017

Greece – yesterday’s headline – has all but disappeared from current affairs. Yet the precarious situation for the people in this country is as real as ever; the health system is teetering on the brink of collapse and the austerity measures have rendered people immobile. Sylvain L’Espérance’s long-term observational film is a poetic, combative work; in it he observes: a revolt on the part of powerless cleaners, a group of dock workers analysing a new kind of fascism, the commitment of the doctors working in a clinic financed by donations, but also the despair of refugees who often find themselves in more precarious situations than those they sought to flee. These extreme conditions are stirring feelings of solidarity among the country’s beleaguered under- and middle-classes who are now stepping up to defy the dehumanising lack of prospects. Sylvain L’Espérance grants us the kind of profound, compassionate insights which have long since disappeared from mainstream media. He is interested in the outsiders and the marginalised and their resistance against prevailing conditions. After making several films in Mali, he now turns his attentions to the heart of Europe.

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by Sylvain L'Espérance Canada 2016 Greek, Arabic, Farsi, French 285’ Colour & Black/White Documentary form

Crew

Written and Directed by	Sylvain L'Espérance
Cinematography	Sylvain L'Espérance
Editing	Sylvain L'Espérance
Music	Don Stavrinos
Sound Design	Catherine Van Der Donckt
Sound	Sylvain L'Espérance
Assistant Director	Filio Chatzinakou
Producer	Sylvain L'Espérance

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Les films du tricycle

Produced by

Les films du tricycle

Photos

Berlinale Meets | Interview

Sylvain L'Espérance

Born in Montreal, Canada in 1961, he studied film and visual arts and has travelled extensively for the last 25 years, from Quebec to Mali to Greece. His films combine Direct Cinema with experimental forms to explore reality through a poetic lens. They have screened and won prizes at film festivals around the world.

Filmography (documentaries)

1988 Les écarts perdus 1992 Les printemps incertains (Shadows of Spring) 1997 Le temps qu’il fait 2002 La main invisible (The Invisible Hand) 2006 Un fleuve humain (The River Where We Live) 2009 Intérieurs du delta (Into the Delta) 2012 Sur le rivage du monde (Standing on the Edge of the World) 2014 Bamako temps suspendu 2016 Combat au bout de la nuit (Fighting Through the Night)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2017