Sans adieu

The late French photographer turned filmmaker Christophe Agou’s posthumously completed documentary about France’s rural poor.

Intimate, empathetic but admittedly episodic at times – with some jarring editing decisions and an excessive use of fade-to-black – SANS ADIEU– thrives because Agou didn’t simply drench his subjects in misery. He also managed to tease out the vibrant, steel-willed and surprisingly droll personalities of these poor, forgotten souls struggling to make ends meet. While a considerably low-fi affair – the visual texture reflects how most of the footage was shot in the early 2000’s – the film’s thematic similarities with raymond depardon’s PROFILS PAYSANS TRIPTYH might still be interesting. (Clarence Tsui)

On October 28th in presence of Stuart A. Staples (Composer).