où est passé le 14 juillet?

In 2006, I completed a short film (24 min) called
où est passé le 14 juillet?
(whatever happened to bastille day? : english title).

A quirky take on France, its national symbols
and what they mean today.

The story starts in my mother's village in the LOT (France).
I begin by asking why the village doesn't celebrate France's national day which marks the revolution: the 14th July (also known as Bastille day). And continue to look at the various symbols of France and question their meaning within their contemporary context.




The film was produced by le GREC http://www.grec-info.com. Paris based, GREC have been producing and distributing experimental films since the 1970s. For me, it meant that I could make the film with some structural backing + total creative freedom.




The film was written at the residence d'écriture at LUSSAS in Ardeche, a residency which specialises in writing documentary films. http://www.lussasdoc.com/

The film did the rounds at the festivals,
won a prize at the festival international d'Aubagne and
was screened at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
It continues to do the local outdoor screenings,
a growing movement around france.

The news this week is that the film is being shown on Thursday 31 July (which happens to be my birthday) at the Mediatheque in Cahors, le Lot (the region it was filmed in!)...

... this is a first, in terms of the LOT region having a screening of the film... and the fact that this will take place on my birthday keeps the quirkiness of the film's spirit in full force!

so I'll take a big birthday cake to share with those who come to see the film...

for a dvd copy of the film,
contact Marie-Anne
diffusion(at)grec-info.com

to see the film :

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=nathalie%20latham%20videos&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#