About the Film
Through ten iconic singers, journalist François Armanet’s new documentary showcases 60 years of French rock music. While they belong to a spectrum of different generations, styles and musical schools, the film successfully presents a fully integrated image representing the history of art, and the changes in society and culture. It also sheds light on the contribution of women in every step of the way, through their voices, music and lyrics, as well as their involvement in the condition of their country and the changes it witnessed through more than half a century. During that time, France was not immune to the turbulences that occurred in the ancient continent, as was the case in the others, especially in the 60s. This is strongly evident in the words of singers who recited chapters of their own tales; the conditions that merged a plethora of environments, cultures and industries, as well as patterns of thinking.
In 2015, after watching Morgan Neville’s 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, film and television producer Edouard de Vésinne proposed the idea to Armanet: a documentary about French rock. Working with journalist Bruno Bayon, the film was based on the status of women in French music, prior to the selection of the ten singers including Brigitte Fontaine, Françoise Hardy, Vanessa Paradis, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Camélia Jordana, Elli Medeiros and others.
Armanet says that making a film requires consistency above all else. Therefore, the film is built on balances between methods and generations. All of this happens within 79 minutes, during which the viewer follows other details as well, such as liberation movements, ideas of rebellion, and artists’ relationship to fashion, the stage, and the audience. The film is masterfully wrapped into a visually smooth package, and it can be best summarized as: "a lyrical poem about women and for women." In addition, the management of the film’s distribution company, Les Films du Losange, is held by two women, Margaret Menegoz and Régine Vial, as Armanet points out.
Nadim Jarjoura
