And which led to the summary execution on August 4 and 5, 1944, by German soldiers, of 25 Saint-Politains, including the mayor at the time, Alain Budes de Guébriant. Broadcast on the occasion of the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation on August 3, the one-hour and a half film was the subject of public screenings the next day at the Majestic cinema, in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, on August 4.
“It completely overwhelmed us”
“From the start, we were counting on two public screenings,” explains Olivier Salaun, history and geography teacher at Notre-Dame du Kreisker high school, at the origin of the project. The cinema told us four, so we made four. » Then very quickly, the sessions were sold out, and the students of the “Summer 44” team, who took care of the ticketing, found themselves forced to refuse people at the entrance. “It completely overwhelmed us, we didn't expect such enthusiasm,” recognizes Daphnée Souffrant, a high school SVT teacher who collaborated on the film.
And the four sessions initially planned have turned into around thirty public screenings since the beginning of last August in nine cinemas in Finistère including Plouescat, Lesneven and Plougastel-Daoulas. Sessions which punctuated each week the summer of 2024 for some of these final year high school students, like Yaëlle: “While we managed the ticketing before the screening, we saw each other again, we discussed, it was a bit our appointment.” And Thibault laughed: “We were more often here at the Majestic than at home! “. At almost each screening, a time for discussion was planned after the film with the actors, mainly the students.
“The feeling of having healed wounds”
And from these times of exchange sometimes beautiful stories emerged. Like when Jean-Paul Briant, a retired French teacher who plays Doctor Le Bigot on screen, met the daughter of the real Doctor Le Bigot, one of the resistance fighters executed on the Bouguen plateau in Brest on July 6, 1944. “All of this made us very proud. Gave us the feeling that we treated tenderness and horror with modesty,” says Sylviane Jestin, a retired mathematics professor who also collaborated on the film. And Margot, a final year student, remembers leaving “in tears” with pride from a packed session.
“Almost every time we had people in the room who had seen or experienced this story. Who sometimes even remained angry, adds Olivier Salaun. It's probably a little presumptuous, but with “Summer of 44”, we have the impression of having healed wounds. » For this project, the “Été 44” team was awarded the medal from the City of Saint-Pol-de-Léon as well as the medal for the memorial initiative by the Department. What's next: the preparation of a making-of for next summer, as well as the DVD or digital release of the film. The funds collected during this adventure will make it possible to finance new filming equipment “and why not another project, I have other ideas”, slips Olivier Salaun.
Between 7,000 and 8,000 spectators
In the meantime, other sessions will be organized during the holidays as well as “as well as for schools and nursing homes”, add Inès and Thibault. The fact remains that this amateur film, worthy of a professional production, was able to meet its audience. “We estimate between 7,000 and 8,000 the number of people who saw it,” continues Olivier Salaun.
And Yaëlle adds, without really realizing it: “This summer, in front of the cinema, there was our poster next to that of “The Count of Monte Cristo”! » The height of success, at the Plouescat cinema, the film was the third most viewed of the summer behind the adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas and “Un p'tit truc en plus”. Hats off to the artists!
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