Filmed over the course of two years, Combat au bout de la nuit is an epic journey to the heart of Greece today. In this country thrown into torment by an oppressive economy, institutional violence is met with stubborn resistance. Driven by both complementary and dissonant energies, the film is suffused with a desire for freedom and the rebellious power of the people it brings together. Whether they are native Athenians, Syrian or Afghan refugees, cleaning women or unemployed longshoremen, volunteer doctors or the homeless, all these men and women, all their stories, respond to each other and weave unexpected connections. By following the people who are struggling to build a different future, Combat au bout de la nuit leads us to the insight that amidst today’s chaos, a new shared world, its shape still uncertain, is slowly emerging.
Documentary, 285 minutes, 2016 ©Les films du tricycle
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« L’Espérance’s film observes the lives of men and women, all of them archetypes of Greece’s reality today. Importance is given to their statements as well as the need to capture, in long takes, their individual feelings, expressions and gestures. The director takes his time, 285 minutes to be precise, to chip away at the surface. He follows political refugees, illegal immigrants, dockworkers, protesters and highly committed citizens. In addition to the harsh, social context, he captures sources of resistance and survival. His camera follows the flight of a seagull at dawn accompanied by the songs (not slogans) of labourers. He gives space to poetic recitals from the off, as for a YouTube capture of a grotesque parliamentary law making process in the presence of only three people, two of them silent and one protesting. » Dieter Wieczorek Modern Times review feb22 2017
Festivals
Panorama Berlinale, Berlin, 2017 / RIDM, Montréal, 2017 / Festival New Horizon Wroclaw, Pologne, 2017 / Festival TransCinéma, Lima, Pérou, 2017 / Split Film Festival, Split, Croatie, 2017 / Mostra de Sao Paulo, Brésil, 2017 / Festival international de documentaire en Cévennes, 2017 / Festival de Douarnenez, France, 2017
Director, cinematographer and soundman/ Sylvain L’Espérance
Research / Sylvain L’Espérance
Writting collaborator / Marie-Claude Loiselle
Researcher, Assistant Director and Interpret / Filio Chatzinakou
Editor / Sylvain L’Espérance
Editing collaboration / Marie-Claude Loiselle
Sound Designer / Catherine Van Der Donckt
Mixage / Benoît Dame
Narration / Angeliki Kounenidaki
With the participation of /
Women housekeepers from the Ministry of Finance/ Foteini Nikitara, Evaggelia Alexakis, Despoina Kostopoulo, Georgia Oikonomou, Dimitra Manoli, Anna Poulaki, Anna Chrisikopoulo, Konstantina Petrousi, Manatalena Trianti, Vaso Gova, Anna Maria Zombou
Alexandra Pavlou, at the Athens Social Clinic and Social Network d’Exarchia, Sipan Rojava, Syrian Kurdish refugee, Makis Mantas, doctor of the Athens social clinic and the Pedy clinic, Abdallah Marzouk, refugee in Athens, Sekou Djabi, former shepherd from Niger, Ali-Ramin Alizadeh and the Afghans in Patras, Hamine, Algerian in Patras
At the port of Perama / Christos Karagiannakis, Vice mayor of Keratsini, Kostas Liakopoulos, docker, Kostas Stefanou, docker, Adreas Volis, docker
In the house of Keratsini / Manolis Baritakis
as well as friends musicians and singers / Stelios Kalamiotis et les Roms du camp Chalandri
Spyros, homeless sailor met in Exarchia
Production and distribution / Les films du tricycle, Sylvain L’Espérance
Les films du tricycle 