FACING DARKNESS
a documentary by Jean-Gabriel Périot
with Nedim Alikadić, Smail Kapetanović, Dino Mustafić, Nebojša Šerić-Shoba, Srđan Vuletić
The Siege of Sarajevo lasted from April 1992 to February 1996. Young men were called up to protect their city, a few of them chose to take along their cameras to face the violence they witnessed throughout those grueling 1,425 days.
Now, 30 years later, they show us their films and share their wartime filming experiences and thoughts on cinema as a means of survival and resistance.
PREMIERE MONDIALE au Festival de KARLOVY VARY 2023 - Special Screenings
IDFA - International Documentary Festival Amsterdam - Signed section
Festival international de cinéma La Rochelle
Sarajevo film festival
Rencontres cinema / Gindou
War on Screen / Châlons-en-Champagne
Rencontres du film des Résistances / Thônes
Rec-Froward / Nice
Born in France in 1974, Jean-Gabriel Périot has made many short films on the edge of documentary, experimental and fiction.
He has developed his own editing style that questions violence and history, based on film and photographic archives material. His films, including Dies Irae, Even If She Had Been a Criminal..., Nijuman no borei (200 000 Phantoms) and The Devil, have won awards at numerous festivals throughout the world.
His first feature film, A German Youth opened the Panorama section at the 2015 Berlinale, before being released on German, Swiss and French cinemas and honored with several awards. Summer Lights, his first feature-length fiction film, premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival. It was released in France in the summer of 2017 and Our Defeats, a feature-length documentary, was presented at the Forum of the 2019 Berlinale.
His latest feature film, Returning to Reims, a documentary adapted from Didier Eribon's book, and starring Adèle Haenel, was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and released in 2021.
The film won a César for Best Documentary in 2023.
With the suuport of Centre National du cinéma et de l’image animée, Ciclic - Région Centre-Val de Loire, Région Provence - Alpes - Côte d’Azur, Région Ile-de-France, Brouillon d'un Rêve de la Scam, PROCIREP - Société des producteurs et ANGOA
Office Fédéral de la Culture of Culture - OFC, Cinéforom, la Loterie Romande.
in co-production with RTS - Radio Télévision Suisse, Bettina Hofmann and Steven Artels
Selection at Pitching du réel, Festival Visions du réel 2021
Selection at Venice Gap-Financing Market 2021
Production: Alter Ego production (France)
En coproduction avec: Alina film (Suisse),
Pravo Ljudski (Bosnie)
Réalisation: Jean-Gabriel Périot
Productrice: Cécile Lestrade
Coproducteurs: Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney
Kumjana Novakova
Special advisor: Kumjana Novakova
Researcher: Emmanuelle Koenig
Historical advisor: Nicolas Möll
Historical consultant: Nejra Nuna Čengić
Photography: Amine Berrada
Amel Djikoli, Denis Gravouil, Augustin Losserand
Sound: Henri Maïkoff
Live translation: Aida Spahić
Sound edit: Xavier Thibault
Sound mix: Laure Arto
Color Grading: Robin Erard
International Sales: The Party Films Sales
Distribution France: Météore Films