Feature Documentary Competition | France | French, with Arabic subtitles | 225 min
Winter 2016. The Calais Jungle is a growing city of about 12,000. In the early spring, the Southern zone, its shops, streets and houses, are completely destroyed. Its expelled population move their houses to the Northern zone to find shelter and keep on living.
In the fall, the Government of France organizes the permanent dismantling of the Jungle. But the Jungle is a mutating territory, a world-city, a city of the future: though destroyed, it rises from its ashes. Shot with young people trapped in the turmoil of wars, police violence, and their attempts at crossing the border to get to England, The Wild Frontier could be a forgotten episode of Homer’s Odyssey.
In this long documentary, the camera is an integral part of its subject’s lives. It lives amongst the people who are caught up in a world of violence and instability in the makeshift city of The Calais Jungle. The camera is witness to their human spirit and hope even in the face of the extreme circumstances.
Nicolas Klotz and Elisabeth Perceval have made 8 feature length films, as well as an important series of documentaries, short films, videos and cinematographic installations. They are developing cinema that questions cinematographic form as much as contemporary change through their films. Their Trilogy of Modern Times comprising Pariah, The Wound and Heartbeat Detector followed by Low Life, were presented at the most important international festivals: La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes, Locarno, Toronto, BAFICI Buenos Aires, Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal, San Sebastian, New York, Chicago, London, Jeonju, Gijon
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