Those Who Leave, What is Left Behind
Director Laurent Maas
Countries France
Duration 55 min
Synopsis
Gino, a 72 year old former pit worker, is forced to leave his father’s house, which he has lived in with his wife Jacqueline for over 40 years. The house, like 17 other houses on Longwy road in Fontoy, will soon be demolished. Century-long mining activity has weakened the grounds and made the towns above it unsafe. The movie tells the story of this loss as the symbol of a destroyed collective identity. It is the story of a tear between one man and his past, a tear between men and their culture.
Gino, a 72 year old former pit worker, is forced to leave his father’s house, which he has lived in with his wife Jacqueline for over 40 years. The house, like 17 other houses on Longwy road in Fontoy, will soon be demolished. Century-long mining activity has weakened the grounds and made the towns above it unsafe. The movie tells the story of this loss as the symbol of a destroyed collective identity. It is the story of a tear between one man and his past, a tear between men and their culture.