Set in the years after the cancellation of the construction of an airport in the rural area of Notre-Dame-des-Lands, Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau compose a meticulous portrait of the collective life of one of the most important activist communities in France, also known as the “ZAD” (Zone to Defend). With immersive filmmaking that follows in the footsteps of Chantal Akerman, their meticulous observation captures the materiality of everyday life, sensitively and philosophically unveiling the stakes of a militant stance against contemporary injustices. “A superlative example of the daring kind of filmmaking, compelling the viewer to consider the relationship between form and content while delving into one of the most significant political struggles of contemporary Europe with disarming concreteness” (Film Comment).
New York Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Guillaume Cailleau (France, 1978) is a Berlin-based artist, filmmaker and film producer whose interest lies in exploring new forms to address political and social issues. His films have been screened at film festivals (Berlin, NY, Rotterdam, Edinburgh) and his work has been exhibited in art institutions such as the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and the Centre Pompidou. In 2014, he won the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival for his short film Laborat. He produces films with his company CaSk Films. Direct Action is his first feature-length film.
Ben Russell (USA, 1976) is a Marseille-based artist, filmmaker and curator whose work lies at the intersection of ethnography and psychedelia. Russell was an exhibiting artist at documenta 14 (2017) and his work has been presented at the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art Chicago, the Venice Film Festival and the Berlinale, among others. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2008), a FIPRESCI International Critics Prize (IFFR 2010, Gijón 2017), and premiered his second and third feature films at the Locarno Film Festival (2013, 2017). Direct Action is his fifth feature-length film.
