“Against the winds and black tide”, the documentary of Alphonse Arzel’s fight after Amoco, on France 2, December 1

There was a crowd, Saturday November 23, 2024, in the afternoon, at Arcadia. 400 people filled the Ploudalmézeau performance hall to attend an event in the Iroise region: the preview screening of the documentary “Contre vents et tide noire”, recounting the catastrophic sinking of the Amoco Cadiz ( in 1978) followed by the fight of Alphonse Arzel and his companions to obtain international recognition of the tragedy of the oil spill and compensation for the affected municipalities of the Finistère-North.

The director of the film, Anthony Santoro, had placed his cameras, last April, on the authentic sites of the shipwreck (Tréompan beach, Portsall, etc.) and the locations of the highlights of the struggle (Ploudalmézeau town hall, Brest court transformed into appearance of that of Chicago…) Locals, including children and grandchildren of Alphonse Arzel, gave their features in roles as extras.

Doc and BD

These hours of filming were condensed into four 22-minute episodes, to be seen this Sunday, December 1, at 1:15 p.m., on France 2, in the doc box presented by Laurent Delahousse. On this occasion, a new edition of the comic strip “Blue Petroleum” is released in bookstores, drawn by Fanny Montgermont and scripted by Gwénola Morizur, granddaughter of the local monument who did not stand down in the face of an oil giant.