CINEMEMORY
Here is a new collection of episodes offering you an immersion in cinema that addresses in depth the history in the broad sense, the significant memories, the transmission and the memory. These episodes focus on the analysis of films inspired by real events and documentaries, allowing to better understand how the seventh art captures and interprets these fundamental aspects of the human experience.
We will dissect the making of films that have drawn on historical events to create powerful narratives, while examining how documentaries have served to convey authentic and sometimes overlooked stories. This cinematic exploration will allow us to grasp how cinema acts as a witness and guardian of collective memories, promising rich reflections on how filmmakers have brought these essential subjects to life through visual and narrative art.
Discover the episodes of this sound collection
Josep,
an animated film by Aurel
In this episode, let's discover 'Josep' , a French, Belgian and Spanish animated film directed by Aurel, released in 2020.
Aurel, a French cartoonist in his first attempt at film, reveals a moving story retracing the little-known journey of Catalan artist Josep Bartoli. Through this work, the director intensely highlights the unbearable reality of the concentration camps that were rampant in France even before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Aurel uses animation to enable an artistic and emotionally powerful vision of this dark period in European history, revealing the horrors and challenges that Bartoli and countless others faced.
Through the biography of the Catalan cartoonist Josep Bartoli, Aurel evokes in a moving and perfectly accurate way the tragic episode of the Retirada, the exodus to France of 450,000 Spanish Republicans fleeing the Franco regime in 1939.
This animated feature film, full of emotion and striking singularity, thus becomes a true act of remembrance, while celebrating the narrative and artistic power of graphic art.
'Josep' transcends the simple confines of a cinematic narrative to become a work that is both emotional and didactic, sensitively capturing a historical period often overlooked by French-speaking audiences. It pays tribute to the ability of visual art to not only document the events of the past, but also to embody memories and give voice to those who lived through these harrowing moments in human history.
Mizrahim, The Forgotten of the Promised Land, a film by Michale Boganim
In this second episode of this collection, I share with you the documentary 'Mizrahim, the forgotten of the Promised Land', directed by Michale Boganim, a French-Israeli director, released in 2022.
This film is halfway between a documentary and a road movie. The director undertakes a journey through various Israeli cities, retracing the route taken by her father who reached Israel after leaving Morocco in the 1960s. Beyond this personal quest, she conducts an in-depth investigation into the mistreatment suffered by Mizrahi Jews upon their arrival in Israel.
By exploring individual stories and trajectories, Michale Boganim reveals the challenges, discrimination and injustices encountered by this community upon their arrival in the Promised Land, testimonies never heard before.
This film goes beyond the simple family story or the simple personal quest for truth but rather seeks to wait for universal history to evoke themes of collective memory, migration and identity, exposing us to an enlightening vision of an often unknown part of the history of Israel and the difficulties encountered by Mizrahi Jews in their integration process. This documentary is above all a revelation for many, revealing little-known historical aspects of this country once considered an El Dorado promising peace and prosperity to its arrivals. However, it reveals a very different reality, marked by disillusionment and a series of discriminations against the Mizrahim.
Me Captain,
a film by Matteo Garrone
For years, the Mediterranean has been the scene of a devastating humanitarian crisis, with thousands of people risking their lives in perilous crossings in search of safe refuge in Europe.
During the year 2023, more than 2,500 men, women and children died in the Mediterranean, figures that are very likely underestimated. Of this horror that is playing out at the gates of our continent, we only receive these irresolutely abstract counts, and sometimes a resurgence of fear when a washed-up corpse reaches the front pages of the newspapers, little more. The atrocity remains off-screen, outside our consciousness as well. It is to the intangibility of these numbers that Matteo Garrone tries, by his own admission, to give a reverse angle with "I, Captain".
Dans cet épisode spécial de Cinémémoire, dédié à l'exploration des œuvres cinématographiques abordant l’Histoire, la transmission, le devoir de mémoire et la lutte contre l’indifférence, nous participons à une édition spéciale du Podcasthon. Cet événement caritatif rassemble les podcasts francophones autour d'une mission commune : mettre en lumière les associations et les ONG qui agissent dans des domaines cruciaux, permettant ainsi un élan collectif et amplificateur.
In this episode, we not only analyze the themes and cinematographic techniques of "I, Captain", but we also delve into the humanitarian context that inspired this film. We highlight the concrete action and commitment of SOS Méditerranée in this humanitarian emergency.
Founded in 2015 by a group of European citizens aware of the ongoing tragedy in the Mediterranean, SOS Méditerranée is a European non-governmental association (NGO) dedicated to the rescue of people in distress at sea. Operating with the ship Aquarius, SOS Méditerranée has saved thousands of lives at sea and has drawn attention to the need to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants and refugees in distress in the Mediterranean.
Through in-depth analysis of the film and discussions of the association's work at sea, we explore the depths of the migration crisis shaking our continent and the heroic efforts being made to respond to it.
This episode was part of the Top 10 podcasts committed to the 2024 edition of Podcasthon, having brought together more than 300 podcasters: Discover the article