Savages

Sauvages! / Savages 8+ 

Claude Barras, Switzerland, France, Belgium, 2024, 87′, dubbed in Slovene 

Keira, Selaï and young orangutan Oshi join forces to protect Borneo’s tropical forest, discovering the power of nature, community, and friendship.

Kéria is a young girl who lives with her father on the edge of a tropical forest in Borneo. She goes to school, loves hip hop and publishes selfies on social media. One day, she rescues a six-month-old orangutan named Oshi. While Kéria attentively takes care of the baby orangutan, her younger cousin Salaï moves in with them. Salaï is a boy from the tribe of indigenous nomads who live deep in the tropical forest in peaceful coexistence with nature. But now they are forced into a resolute resistance against greedy logging companies, which mercilessly destroy their natural home. Selaï and Oshi soon run away back into the forest and Kéria follows them. The day turns into night and the girl realises that she is lost. At that moment, Selaï suddenly appears. The next morning, they set off even deeper into the forest where they finally find the helpless Oshi. Thus begins an exciting journey, during which the Kéria learns the skills of her nomad cousin, discovers the beauty of the tropical habitat and finally meets her ancestors – members of the Penan tribe and their mysterious spiritual tradition. When Kéria is faced with the reality of the threat endangering the Penan, she is resolved to join them in defending the forest from destruction.Režiser Claude

Director Claude Barras about the film

What led to the idea for the film – “My grandparents were farmers in the Alps. They lived a semi-nomadic shepherding life dependent on the seasons. /…/ As a teenager, I ran away from the peasant life that I found a bit embarrassing to study filmmaking in Lyon. I often wonder which pieces of knowledge and moral principles of my parents and grandparents I should impart to my children. How should I teach them about the contemporary world without them completely losing touch with the generations before me? How should I pass on this attitude to nature without romanticising the “good old days” and to the future in which the technological control of the wild world is supposed to miraculously lead us to a harmonious society? Instead of telling my own story, I went to the part of the world where these questions are most pressing in terms of ecology and human rights – to Borneo. Since the 1980s, forests have been cut down and oil palms planted in their place under the pretence of development, without any regard to the locals. /…/”

Writing the screenplay – “I spent a very long time developing the story. In 2018, I spent three weeks in a small community of nomads. This was enabled by an NGO that provided them with legal aid in their struggle against logging companies. With the help of an interpreter, I presented my project to them and talked with them about their struggle, for I saw them setting up obstacles on an illegal forest road. I listened to their opinions about the forests, plantations and cities and their wishes for their children’s future. In addition, I drew sketches and wrote down how the life in a rainforest is organised. I also met people who inspired me to write this screenplay: a young girl named Nina, her grandfather Peno and their extended family. When I returned from my journey, I prepared a draft with Nancy Huston and Morgan Navarro and then started writing the screenplay with Catherine Paillé. For a year and a half, we patiently transformed the notes I had been collecting for two years into a narrative, which we wanted to be funny and deep at the same time.”

A realistic narrative – “The film is intended for family audiences. It views the world through the eyes of its protagonists: two children and a baby orangutan. Naughtiness and sincerity are intertwined with fear, resistance and anger when they realise how unjust the world of the adults is. This coming-of-age story is the continuation of my previous film, My Life as a Courgette. It combines, in an original way, the realism of a serious and deep social topic with a simple and colourful visual world, which gives the film its poetic form.”

Followed by an creative workshop ‘Plastic Gobblers‘ 5+

A recycling workshop to explore the underwater world and its pollution, and to make sea creatures out of plastic waste.  Free admission. In collaboration with Gumb.