Devoted to Darfur, the documentary by Camille Ponsin, a director acclaimed several times at the Biarritz festival (Les Demoiselles de Nankin, Le Droit au baiser) delivers an edifyingly well-founded documentary on the genocide in the region.
At the heart of the Paris flat of Marie-José Tubiana, a retired ethnologist, the filmmaker seeks to capture several decades of research into the people of Chad and Sudan, abandoned and almost forgotten, who, against all odds, risked their lives to seek political asylum in France, and who come to this nonagenarian to give their testimony and hope to finally be heard. By crossing the confidences held between these four walls and the various observations that the ethnologist had collected years before, the film was able to weave a rich, poignant and complete story.
Marie-José Tubiana's role in this process, where words take precedence, is essential. She is the only one who can re-establish the truth and prove to the authorities the existence of these villages destroyed by the militias, thereby ensuring that her visitors are recognised as ethnic groups.
Paying homage to the victims of Darfur, La Combattante is an essential, deeply human documentary about transmission and solidarity.