Eight years after the terrorist attack against Father Hamel, a film about this terrible assassination is released in cinemas

The film “Let our joy remain”, by Cheyenne-Marie Carron, looks back on the terrible assassination of Father Hamel in his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime), on July 26, 2016. The film, shot in party in the region, was released this Wednesday, April 24, in a few theaters in France. Meeting with its director.

It is a film partly shot in Normandy, around a tragedy which shook the region and well beyond: the assassination of Father Jacques Hamel, in the middle of mass, in his church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on July 26, 2016. The director, Cheyenne-Marie Caron, already author of around fifteen films, wanted to pay tribute to this man of faith. She tried to show that Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, in the town hit by this attack, Muslims and Christians have chosen to strengthen dialogue, while respecting each other’s beliefs.

• Cheyenne-Marie Caron, in your film, did you want to go beyond horror?

Indeed, I think that in view of the violence that took place in the Church, out of respect for Father Hamel and for Father Hamel’s family, I had to show what had happened but with a certain restraint. .

• You insist on two destinies which crossed paths for the worse. That of a man with a chaotic journey turned towards the destruction which annihilated a man, turned towards the other and the sacred. What message do you want to convey with this film?

I show that young people become radicalized through contact with prison and through contact with an interpretation of religious texts, but ultimately, it is a film of hope. I try to show what Father Hamel left as a legacy, that is to say a word of hope and kindness.

• How was the film received by the family of Father Hamel and that of the attacker, originally from Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray?

Roseline Hamel, Father Hamel’s sister, attended the filming of the film since I had the chance to shoot largely at the presbytery of the Church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, where Father Hamel lived. I think Roseline enjoyed the film, but we’ll have to ask her for confirmation!

I also had an exchange with the mother of the attacker, Adel Kermiche, during the preparation of the film. She emailed me to find out how I was going to represent her son. I told him that I would not avoid the horrible crime he committed but that it would remain a Christian film where all the characters would be treated with charity.

To rewatch the interview with Cheyenne-Marie Caron conducted by Frédéric Nicolas, on the set of ICI 19/20 France 3 Normandie:

The film was previewed in Normandy on March 16, 2024 at the Mégarama in Dieppe, and on April 14 at the Kinépolis in Rouen.