Patria obscura

A photographer follows the footsteps of his two grandfathers both army men who died a long time ago, Pierre the legionnaire and Paul the paratrooper. Through them he explores the story of his family, a history bounded by wars, tormented by silences and the unsaid. In an immodest film, he unveils the history of France, a nation at war with itself. Patria Obscura travels backwards through French history to the massive slaughter of 14-18 which carried the seed of the decline of the European States/Nations. The film tackles the passion for silence, the universal sickness which prevents us from seeing in a foreigner anything more than the reflection of our own fears.