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2011 Festival Feature Films (March 24-27)

French director Jean-Paul Jaud presents Nos enfants nous accuseront

director Jean-Paul Jaud assistant director Georges Gonner executive producer Béatrice Camurat Jaud
screenplay Jean-Paul Jaud directors of photography Jöel Pierron, Ammar Arhab editor Isabell Szumny
sound engineer Eric Münch
running time 1 h 47 min general audience

Synopsis

In Europe every year, 100,000 children die of diseases caused by the environment. Seventy percent of cancers are linked to the environment, 30 percent to pollution and 40 percent to food. Cases of cancer in children have been increasing by 1.1 percent yearly for 30 years. In France, the number of cancers in males has increased by 93 percent in 25 years.

In a little French community at the foot of the Cévennes Mountains, the mayor has decided to take a stance by making the school canteen organic. Here, as they are everywhere, people are faced with the anxiety of the dangers of industrial and agro-chemical pollution. It is the start of a fight against a process that could become irreversible, a fight to stop our children from accusing us in the future.

director/screenwriter
Jean-Paul Jaud

Biography of director Jean-Paul Jaud

Inspired by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, Jean-Paul Jaud focused his career on making films. He graduated from the Louis Lumière School and made a detour in television. He was among the pioneers of modern television who participated in the adventurous birth of Canal+ (the leader of French cable TV), where he applied the language of movies to football games and live broadcasts. He screened the true essence of a move, the emotions of a player. Jean-Paul Jaud filmed a game as he would film a documentary.

Profoundly touched by the disaster of Chernobyl in 1986, Jean-Paul Jaud became aware of the urgent problem of global ecology. As a result, he created his own production company, J+B SEQUENCES, with which he could make documentaries with total artistic freedom. Food Beware. Our Children Will Accuse Us is a documentary film released in 2008 and was seen by more than 300,000 people. Jean-Paul Jaud made this film as a more militant tribute to nature. Encouraged by the urgency of environmental emergencies and deeply convinced that the film industry plays an essential role in the safeguard of our civilization and planet, the filmmaker made it his duty to offer solutions.

Interview with Jean-Paul Jaud

Why the title Food Beware. Our Children Will Accuse Us?
“We are only borrowing this planet from our children,” said Saint-Exupéry. And yet, we are giving this Earth back in a catastrophic state. And on top of that, we are poisoning our children every day. I think that in this sense, the title is not too strong! I ask you: What mammal knowingly poisons its children and destroys the habitat that they live in?

When did your interest in organic agriculture begin?
I discovered organic agriculture, also known as natural agriculture, in my childhood, during vacations on my grandfather’s farm. This type of farming was respectful of life, both plant and animal, thus promoting biodiversity. Then, a few years ago, finding the cause of the cancer of which I was a victim, I naturally was drawn to eating organic products.

How did you learn about Barjac and its people?
I began by having a type of “casting call.” I was looking for a place where school catering had been done conventionally until now, but now wanted to go organic. In March 2006, with the help of Stéphanie Veyrat from the organization Un plus bio, I met Edouard Chaulet, Aline Guyonnaud and the parents of students of the Barjac school. This process was already under consideration, and my visit, I believe, accelerated the desire to put this change in motion.

How long did filming last?
Filming lasted 40 days over a school year. The camera took the time to carefully describe their personal universe, at school and at home, because for me, a year is the perfect amount of time to show the evolution of a universe. The picture must be informative, but above all it must touch the hearts of the parents. Barjac is a beautiful village in France situated at the foot of the Cévennes, but the sad reality there is like everywhere else in the world: This idyllic setting is not spared from soil, air and water pollution.

Why did you choose the cinema to express yourself?
Our hope to convey the consequences of poor eating habits by focusing on those that are directly affecting our children required cinematographic handling. A documentary shown in a theater is regarded differently than one shown on television. In a theater, the spectator’s concentration on the images and sounds is ideal. They are also in a situation where they can share with other viewers. Healthy and natural eating agrees with beauty. The camera must re-create, through images, the beauty of fruits, vegetables, meals, and the loveliness of our children. … Also the beauty of nature, the intensity of a gaze, can never be re-created as well as on a movie screen. These are the main reasons why I made Food Beware. Our Children Will Accuse Us for the big screen. “Only beauty will save the world” as Dostoevsky wrote in The Idiot.