Sylvain George spent three years shooting his documentary Qu'ils reposent en révolte (Let Them Lie in Revolt), beginning in 2007. It follows different migrants in their daily and miserable routine of seeking food, shelter and medical assistance, and above all a clandestine passage across (or in the tunnel under) the 35 kilometres of sea that separate France from Britain.
The recurrent crisis in Calais has changed little since the final shots of the film from 2010, when the principle migrant makeshift encampment was razed by police. Since then, the migrants, now estimated to total about 2,300 people, have set up in smaller temporary encampments or taken over squats, but their plight and their stories remain much the same.
The razing in 2010 of the camp that what was called ‘the jungle’, like the closure in 2002 of the Sangatte refugee camp close to Calais, has served as no deterrent to the rising number of people arriving from war-torn countries, and which recently has notably included Syrians. Meanwhile, a daytime reception centre is due to open in November, along with a night shelter for women and children.
The Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations and associations have for many years offered limited but welcome relief aid for the migrants, while the local authorities are largely overwhelmed by a problem for which no solution is in sight. Meanwhile, there are increasing tensions between the roaming migrants and the local population.
Pieced together as a series of scenes (some shot clandestinely) and interviews, Qu'ils reposent en révolte (which carries English and French subtitles, when appropriate) tells the story of the migrants who in Calais, Sylvain George told Cinema Scope, live as “people who are stripped of fundamental rights live a ‘naked’ life, stripped down to mere bodies”.
Since it was first released in 2011, Qu'ils reposent en révolte has won several international prizes, including best film and FIPRESCI prize at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, the best film award at the Milan Filmmaker Film Festival and the Jury Prize at the Valdivia International Film Festival in Chile. Qu'ils reposent en révolte is presented here on Mediapart, in association with Images en Bibliothèques, and will remain available over the next three months.
- Images en Bibliothèques, an association that promotes the screening of France's audiovisual archives, will present Qu'ils reposent en révolte among a number of documentaries it is screening across France during its 'Month of the Documentary' festival in November (see the programme here).