by Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell
(216:00, S16mm, 5.1, 2024)
Taking its title from the tactical protest strategy of the same name – “an action that seeks to achieve an end directly and by the most effective means” – DIRECT ACTION is a contemporary portrait of one of the most important militant activist communities in France – a 150-person strong rural collective that survived multiple violent eviction attempts by the French state, successfully resisted an international airport expansion project, created an autonomous zone from 2012-2018, and spawned a remarkable new ecological movement in 2021. Through a collaborative and uniquely immersive observational approach, DIRECT ACTION documents the everyday of a diverse ecosystem of activists, squatters, anarchists, farmers and government-labeled “eco-terrorists” – so as to better understand how the success of a radical protest movement can offer a path through the climate crisis facing us all.
Image: Ben Russell
Edit: Guillaume Cailleau + Ben Russell
Location Sound: Bruno Auzet
Sound Design: Nicolas Becker + Rob Walker
Sound Mix: Rob Walker
Produced by CASKFILMS (Germany) in co-production with VOLTE (France)
