Drancy Avenir (1997)
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Directors
Cast
Aude Amiot, Thierry Bosc, Anna-Lisa Nathan
Three narratives—a dying survivor’s anguish, a student’s investigation of the former Drancy camp, and a river journey—reflect on the persistence and transmission of barbarism.
The story
This experimental documentary unfolds through three narratives. Near death, the last survivor of the Final Solution is distressed that he has been unable to pass on testimony capable of withstanding oblivion. A history student investigates the former Drancy camp, now a public-housing estate, confronting its horrific past with contemporary life there. In a third strand, a boat captain travels up a wild river on a journey where civilization and savagery become indistinguishable. The film interweaves these stories with past and present to question the persistence of barbarism and how it is transmitted.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Drancy Avenir is an experimental documentary in three narratives that reflects on the Shoah and the memory of the extermination of the Jews of Europe. In the first narrative, the last survivor of the Final Solution, on the brink of death, expresses his distress at not having been able to pass on testimony that can withstand oblivion. In the second, a history student sets out to investigate the former Drancy camp, now transformed into a public-housing estate, and confronts the place’s horrific past with its contemporary life. The third narrative shows a boat captain making his way up a wild river, a metaphor for a journey in which civilization and savagery become indistinguishable. The film interweaves the present, the past, and reflections to question the persistence of barbarism and how it is transmitted.
Genres
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