A French road trip doesn’t offer the idyllic provincial lifestyle one might expect in this short film by Sydney/London-based director Kaius Potter (previously featured here). “From North to South” charts a Spring-time trip from the port of Calais south to Nice, through the Alps, Lyon, Biarritz and north to Paris. Having grown up in Australia, Potter had formed a romantic image of France as a place of dewy perfection, the epitome of history and culture. What he encountered instead were ghost towns, leathery-skinned sunbathers and young people out of work:
“Rawness is the best word to describe what we experienced across France, in the people, the towns and the landscape. It was this rawness, this prickly stem, that forced me to take France down off its pedestal and view it in the same way I saw my own country. Sure it has the bits it shows off and projects to the outside world, but it also has its political and economic complexities, a hidden and unrefined beauty and everyday people, who don’t stay up all night discussing politics, history and philosophy but go to bed to wake up for their 9-5-day job so they can pay the rent.”
Words by Sasha Brown
Film by Kaius Potter
Shot on Kodak Vision3 50D
Scan by On8mil
Colour by Fergus Rotherham
Music by Ruby Haunt
This is just one of the many wonderful submissions we’ve received in the past week. Consider participating here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!
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