Direct Action

In January 2018, the construction of an airport in rural Notre-Dame-des-Landes was officially canceled, putting an end to years of resistance led by one of the most important activist communities in France. From 2022-2023, filmmakers Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell immersed themselves in the ZAD (zone-to-defend) to create a portrait of collective life in the years after this unprecedented success. The resulting work documents the transformation of a local struggle into a new ecological protest movement - culminating with the Battle of Sainte-Soline in March 2023, where an act of collective direct action against water privatization was again met by the brutality of State violence.

Following the principles of an immersive filmmaking and in the footsteps of some of Akerman's work, DIRECT ACTION is a unique and hypnotic portrayal of a community which is not circumscribed to its violent interactions with the State: thanks to their meticulous observation, the directors document a highly singular political movement where it is still possible to conceive a better tomorrow.


Produced by CASKFILMS, in co-production with VOLTE Films.