Erika Etangsalé studied at the Dijon School of Fine Art, then at the Indian Ocean Image Institute in Réunion. In 2012, she directed her first short film, Only Dead Fish Follow the Stream, broaching the subject of the human condition of migrants in French overseas departments in the 1960s and 1970s, and the migration policy adopted at the time by the French government. This fictional work, directly inspired by the story of her father, was awarded a Special mention by the jury at the Guadeloupe International Film Festival and the First prize at the Réunion Film Festival in 2014. She later took part in various residential writing programmes and workshops, developing written work on a number of projects including Lev la tèt dann fénwar, a documentary in competition at the 2021 edition of FIDMarseille.
Jean-René is a retired factory worker who has lived in Mâcon, France, since emigrating from Reunion Island at the age of 17. Today, for the first time ever, the quiet man recounts his story to his daughter. His journey is interspersed with enigmatic dreams and pains that are rooted in the wounds of the French colonial past.
Jean-René is a retired factory worker who has lived in Mâcon, France, since emigrating from Reunion Island at the age of 17. Today, for the first time ever, the quiet man recounts his story to his daughter. His journey is interspersed with enigmatic dreams and pains that are rooted in the wounds of the French colonial past.