This Is Our Land

This film screens as part of Pix Rendez-Vous. The section is a collaboration between Oslo Pix and Institut Français, and includes nine French titles at this year’s programme. It is a continuation of the festival Rendez-Vous with French film, which for many years has presented the remarkable quality of contemporary French cinema to a Norwegian audience.

A single mother from the working class north in France who is won over by a right wing conservative and charismatic leader, is a good starting point for a film. This is Our Land tries to understand why the working class is drawn toward conservative in today’s current political climate. And it is impossible not to think about Marine Le Pen and Front National when you see Lucas Belcaux’ film. We follow Pauline, a home nurse, who falls right into a political circus when she is presents as the party’s new poster girl and candidate to become the mayor. In addition, she falls for her high school sweetheart, Stéphane, without knowing about his political baggage. Pauline’s choice gets reactions from all fronts; her communist dad, former friends, and a long line of her patients, but this is just the top of the iceberg in a film about to reach its boiling point. JSR

Lucas Belvaux (b. 1961) is a French-Belgian actor and director, born in Namur in Belgian. He participated in the main competition in Cannes in 2006 with The Right of the Weakest, and won the audience’s praise for the abduction drama, Rapt in 2009. This is Our Land made headlines and created debates alongside the president election in France in May.