An almost black screen, a section of the Arc de Triomphe can be seen. babble of
voices. "Wait..." "We're getting mad, Mr. President. We can't live. We cannottake care of our children. We worked for 40 years." "Is that normal? Why are youruining us?" "I'm not ruining anyone." "Our pensions have gone down. We live on1,000 euros." "Don't underestimate us." ---- Next, the canvas shows the writing"Un Peuple". ---- INTIMATE INSIGHTS AND NEOLIBERAL CRITICISM ---- This is how thefilm of the same name begins, which will be shown in selected cinemas for thefirst time with German subtitles from January 12th. He accompanies the YellowVest riots from the perspective of four activists from the city of Chartres. Thevisually stunning documentation gets by with just a few comments and brieflyrecalls the facts at the beginning: Macron's government wants to levy an "eco"tax on fossil fuels. On November 17, 2018, hundreds of thousands of angrycitizens demonstrated across France; Activists occupy roundabouts across the country.So also in Chartres. People stand around the campfire on one of the trafficislands, hold up the French flag and listen to the words of the elected speakerBenoît, who demands justice, the equal distribution of wealth. In an interview hedescribes his motivation:At first I looked at the movement with reservations. Because it was about the taxon gas, but what turns me off is poverty. I thought it was a shame people wereonly protesting about gas.[...]At first I was surprised, then I soon realizedthat the price of petrol was just the spark. There were many other things behindit. And that's when I thought it was time to get personally involved. For thecause I stand up for: The fight against every form of need and poverty. And theYellow Vests want the same thing.Through interviews like these and the accompaniment of four activists, viewersare offered an intimate impression of the movement. The protest is given a facethat would not be possible with short media reports. What is particularlypleasing is that the film's heroes are the people who are usually neglected inreporting: people who do not hold high office; People from France suffering frompoverty. They know how it feels when there is no money left to fill the fridge onthe 10th of the month and they know that they are the broad mass of losers inneoliberal politics, but not defenseless victims.Without comment, the film shows them organizing, discussing and taking part inactivities such as manning the local toll booth. Or when attending events of the"Great National Debate", where they are only asked for their opinion after theofficial discussion part and have better arguments than the MPs, who have nothingmore to say to people affected by poverty than that the only systematic problemthere are too few career opportunities and social benefits and the minimum wageare high enough. Thus, while biased and close to the Yellow Vests, Un Peuplecontributes to a more complete history as the insurgent side is finally heard too.EPIC PICTURES AND VIOLENT DEBATEI don't drive 100 kilometers every Saturday to fight the police. We are not aviolent movement. We are here for our right to demonstrate. It's crazy. Peopleare fed up with all of this. Every weekend: the police against us. It goes onlike this.[...]I come to demonstrate in Paris for my demands because I'm worriedabout my pension, about nature conservation, the planet. Here's what happensevery weekend. We don't want that. We want the government to change. Damn it.Government, please change. do something Crap! look at the stones They'll hit mein the head.[...]Am I not allowed to demonstrate? What's his problem? He hit mewith his shield! Am I not allowed to demonstrate? Where is he? We were beaten bythe police. I haven't done anything. Bloody hell! That's how it is: You don't doanything and you get beaten, tear gassed and they just say, "Get out!"This is a longer stream of words from the streaming environmental and yellow vestactivist Allan, who drives from Chartres to a demonstration in Paris anddocuments the police violence. Pictures are shown of the devastation. Images ofthe police beating the people of France. In this way, "Un Peuble" manages to opena debate about the violent riots, instead of attributing the destruction solelyto the actions of the demonstrators. A father tells how he wanted to drive backto his two children from a demonstration, told the police and was attacked withrubber bullets. "Imagine what it's like to be tear gassed for six hours.[...]Ifyou were surrounded for six hours, wouldn't you defend yourself?"Above all, Allan's "Monolog" on the subject of violence is remembered and is morelyrical and stirring than any Jelinek outpouring. Director and cinematographerEmmanuel Gras has a talented eye for capturing epic images, particularly of theParis riots. By capturing great image compositions, the documentary has a certainart-house character, which fortunately could also attract an educatedmiddle-class audience to the film in addition to the usual left-wing scene. Butin contrast to other art house productions, social grievances are not onlyportrayed in "Un Peuple" for the sake of aesthetic satisfaction, which of courseends in doing nothing. Gras explicitly names the causes of the grievances withthe four activists and accuses Macron, neoliberal politics and the unfairdistribution of wealth. In addition, it offers an activating solution:self-organization and collective uprising. The last words of the film are thechanting of a demonstrating crowd: "Join us."A revolution - uprising of the yellow vests. Direction and camera: Emmanuel Gras.France 2022 (Original: Un Peuple).https://direkteaktion.org/revolution-traegt-gelbweste/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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