France 2023, 77 min, No Dialogue, No Subtitles

At the edge of the desert lies an ocean. The people who live on this remote, windswept rocky beach in Chile forage for mineral-rich seaweed from the ocean floor, piling it into brown mounds on smooth rocks, and pick up industrial waste washed ashore or dumped there long ago. The scene unfolding before us could be taking place on another planet or in a post-apocalyptic reality. The filmmaker, an anthropologist, lived there alone, with no crew, for months, and crafted a film that offers a weird and wonderful workout for the mind. Foregoing traditional character development and voice-over narration, he captures the energy of the place through masterful and creative use of music and natural sound, to the point where one can almost touch the sounds of rust, the wind whistling between the rocks, and the seafoam on the ocean waves.

Previous Festivals: Locarno FF

Screening Schedule:
  • Thu 23.05 | 20:30 | Cinematheque 2
  • Mon 27.05 | 16:15 | Cinematheque 2

Stéphane Breton is a filmmaker and ethnologist. He shoots alone documentary essays that take place in the folds and hems of the modern world, taking care of the picture, the sound, and the all shebang. The First Days is his third feature-length film.
He has directed Them and Me (2001), Heaven in a Garden (2003), A Silent Summer (2005), The Outside World (2007), Night Rising on Clouds (2007), The Empty House (2008), Ascent to the Sky (2009), A Few Days Together (2014), Dark Forests (2014), Chère humaine (2015) and Fire’s Daughters (2017).

Script & Cinematography: Stéphane Breton
Editing: Catherine Rascon, Stéphane Breton
Sound Design: Jean-Christophe Desnoux, Catherine Rascon, Nathalie Vidal
Music: Jean-Christophe Desnoux