Maryse J. Bray

Images of exile: tracing the past within the present in Henri-François Imbert's No Pasaràn! Album souvenir

Abstract Henri-François Imberts No Pasàran! Album souvenir (2003) focuses on a lesser known episode of the Spanish Civil War; half a million Republicans fled their country after Francos victory and crossed the border into France only to be ‘parked’ in makeshift refugee camps, ostracised by the host country about to fall into the hands of the Vichy government. The film is an illustration of the validity of cinema as a medium to help us understand history and offers welcome alternatives from the cliché-ridden representations of migrants in popular culture.

The French film industry's current financial crisis and its impact on creation: the example of Jacques Doillon's Raja (2003)

Abstract Although Jacques Doillon is amongst the major film-makers in France, his recent project found no financing in spite of its relative cheapness. According to Doillon, this was because his scenario did not fit within the light-entertainment focus of financiers. Indeed, funding films that do not conform to a Hollywood model has become a particularly fraught issue in France. Frustrated in his original ambition, Doillon then embarked on the filming of Raja in Marrakech (Morocco). This film depicts the unsuccessful love story between a blasé, middle-aged Frenchman (Pascal Greggory) and Raja, one of his maids played by the newcomer Najat Benssallem. One of the first temptations is to read the film as a parable for the power relationship between rich industrialized countries in the North and emerging nations in the South. Our article however proposes a different interpretation of the narrative: in our view, the film can also be seen as an allegory for the conflict-ridden relationship between film-makers and their financiers in a world where return upon investment is the paramount criterion for the selection of scenarios.