Producer and director, Raphaël Millet will present his documentary on Saturday, September 21 at 2:30 p.m. Berry summer 44, a stolen victory? (1) at the Les Elysées cinema in Issoudun. It will also be screened during the Rendez-vous de l’Histoire in Blois.
How did you become interested in this subject?
I have a taste for the history of the end of the Second World War, from June 1944 to May 1945, which was a very complex period, made up of many gray areas and much more painful moments than what we usually know about.
An absolutely fascinating little-known story
Why Berry?
I was working on another documentary about the Saint-Nazaire pocket. During my research, I learned that some of the resistance fighters present came from central France, where they had forced the Elster column to surrender. I found this little-known story absolutely fascinating and worthy of being told. It seemed all the more necessary to me since no French documentary film had been devoted to this subject.
How long did you work on this documentary?
I worked for almost three years, from mid-2021 to mid-2024. I met a good thirty people, whether they were key witnesses or historians specializing in the subject.
What contribution did the Ciclic heritage center make?
I did a “heritage residency” in Issoudun at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. It allowed me to identify around thirty films that had a more or less direct connection with my subject. Some allowed me to convey the atmosphere of an era in all its humanity, through faces, clothes, gestures, looks.
What impact can your documentary have on young people?
The resistance fighters were often very young people. That is why I made sure, when they appear on screen, to indicate their age in 1944. This way, we can guess how young they were. My goal is for this to resonate with young people today and for them to be able to say to themselves that people who were their age took an active part in such events.
It is also to get them to think differently about their own grandparents or great-grandparents. Finally, it is to get them to ask themselves what they could have done or not done if they had been young at that time, knowing that it is a question without a real answer. In turn, I hope that this can open up a reflection in them on the present that is theirs.
Do you bring a new perspective to this period?
A historical debate remains open to fully recognize, to its fair extent and value, the action of the French Resistance in the chain of events that led to the surrender of the Elster column and the liberation of Berry. The title of the film, with its question mark, clearly indicates that, without claiming to provide a definitive answer, I am rather seeking to pose the question as clearly and strongly as possible. The aim is to contribute to the debate because there is a stake in collective memory here.
(1) Co-production France Télévisions, TV Tours-Val de Loire, BIP TV, Girelle Productions, Nocturnes Productions.
Two other screenings are scheduled for October 9 in Châteauroux and October 10 in La Châtre.
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