Les Engagés, Emilie Frèche’s first film, is freely inspired by a true story.
First feature film by Emilie Frèche, Les Engagés takes us on the road to Briançon. David’s car (Benjamin Lavernhe) hits a young exile (Youssouf Gueye) pursued by the police.
Following his instinct, David hides it in his trunk and brings it back to his partner Gabrielle (Julia Piaton) who lives with her two children. Shaken by the fate of this teenager, David undertakes to help him at all costs.
For the director, this first foray into film directing allowed her to make a film about commitment, about our ability to make the world a better place. According to Emilie Frèche, it is also a work about disobedience to the law and how ordinary people, by remaining faithful to their values, become heroes.
“David, my main character, is the heir of the Righteous of yesterday. He puts his morality above the laws he considers iniquitous. It is this commitment that I wanted to tell more than the journey of the exiled.
No doubt because faced with the great migratory movements that await us in the years to come, only one question arises: how do we welcome, and under what conditions?asks Emilie Frèche.
Les Engagés is freely inspired by the “7 de Briançon”, a real story that took place in 2018. Les Identitaires, a far-right group, came to patrol by helicopter at the Col de l’Échelle to look for migrants.
“The solidarity had chosen to respond peacefully to this violent communication operation, by organizing a demonstration which would leave from Clavière, in Italy, and would go as far as Briançon. The police let them cross the border”explains Emilie Frèche.
“But when they arrived in France, several people were arrested, and some placed in pre-trial detention on the grounds that there were exiles in this march: they were accused of aiding illegal entry into the territory as an organized gang”she continues.
“They were all released on appeal, but some, with pre-trial detention, were deprived of their freedom. And this deprivation is akin to a means of political pressure to dissuade all people who would like to get involved in the region”laments the filmmaker.
“It’s a way of saying ‘Look what will happen to you, if you save foreigners in the mountains!’ I was inspired by this story, but also by the tragic fate of Blessing, a young Nigerian girl who drowned in the Durance to escape a police check”confides the director.
Tandem Movies Benjamin Lavernhe
When Emilie Frèche discovered the “7 de Briançon” affair, she decided to go there. The filmmaker found a room in Montgenèvre and talked a lot with her landlady, who told her about the situation, telling her how children regularly arrived from the mountains.
“She told me that she had to open the door to them, if only for her children – she could not fail to teach them hospitality. The same day, this woman put me in touch with someone from the Refuge. She accompanied me to her home, near Montgenèvre”remembers Emilie Frèche.
After this first stay, the director returned several times to Briançon where she spent some time at the Refuge Solidaire to listen to and watch the volunteers in action. She thus observed the exiles who had just arrived from a very long journey.
“I also went back there with the actors, so that they could soak up the places and the atmosphere. I also read a lot on the subject, and watched the fascinating reports or documentaries that had been made. And then I tried to understand the topography of the place, this border straddling a golf course in summer and a ski slope in winter”says the filmmaker.
Les Engagés was released in theaters on November 16.