Najac Calling Over to You, Earth (2006)

Henri Sauzeau, Serge Itkine, Samuel Itkine, Arnaud Barre, Henri Darde ... see more  , Simone Darde , Jean-Louis Raffy , Jacky Dejhouge , Christopher Gillard , Robert Roussel , Hubert Bouyssières , Dominique Saouly , Christian Lombard

Filmmaker Jean-Henri Meunier pays homage to the people of his rural hometown in this witty documentary. Meunier left Paris to move to the small country village of Najac in 1995, and took to interviewi... read more ng the townspeople with his video camera, allowing the many unusual characters to speak for themselves. As Najac faces an uncertain future after French authorities decide to open a nuclear waste disposal site in the town, Meunier offers his recorded memories of his neighbors, including a winemaker who still stomps grapes with his feet, a midwife for cows, a train conductor who demonstrates the franc will stand the weight of a locomotive with greater resilience than the Euro, and a cook who can make a remarkably large omelet upon demand. While drawing gentle humor from his subjects, Meunier's film makes clear he admires the resourcefulness of the people of Najac while expressing anxieties for their future in a changing world. Ici Najac a vous la Terre (aka Najac Calling Over To You, Earth) received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi