DIRECT ACTION

Q&A with Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell on Oct. 7 & 8

Includes a five-minute intermission.

This detailed portrait of the intricate processes of a French political eco-activist group, a collaboration between American experimental filmmaker Ben Russell and French artist Guillaume Cailleau, is a work of striking, meaningful duration, philosophically immersing viewers in the world of its committed subjects by focusing on the physical. Set in the Notre-Dame-des-Landes commune in western France, where the collective plans and carries out its mission—termed ZAD (Zone to Defend)—to disrupt and discourage corporations and state entities from building on and destroying land, DIRECT ACTION follows the minutiae and daily efforts leading to the protest of a reservoir development. Winner of the Best Film award in the Berlinale’s Encounters section, Cailleau and Russell’s film shows the stakes, pitfalls, and reverberations of taking a militant stance against the injustices of our times.

All NYFF62 feature documentaries are sponsored by

NYFF62 Currents features are sponsored by

Recommended Film Comment reading:

• Interview: Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell on DIRECT ACTION
• Berlinale 2024 Podcast: DIRECT ACTION
• “A superlative example of daring filmmaking”: DIRECT ACTION at Berlinale
• The Film Comment Podcast: DIRECT ACTION

Sign up to the Film Comment Letter for NYFF62 coverage and more original film criticism year-round.