The night falls on Europe, a photographic exhibition and a film by Samuel Bollendorff, was presented under the Canopée des Halles in Paris for one month, from April 15 to May 11, 2017, in free access.
The exhibition under the Canopée des Halles attracted 100,000 visitors. The film has seen over 140,000 views on the web and social networks.
The large format of the newspaper Le Monde, the posts on the Facebook page The Night Falls on Europe, relays on Twitter and Instagram have enabled us to reach more than one million people..
Produced in collaboration with Amnesty International and supported by the Fonds de dotation agnes b. and Nikon, Night falls on Europe offers a different perspective on these journeys of women, men and children forced to take the road of exile to flee the violence of conflicts or persecution.
An exile that, step by step, exposes them to the violence of smugglers, law enforcers, beatings and ratonnades, rape or forced prostitution … While they seek protection and security, refugees are too often Confronted with violence, then with fear, rejection or stigmatization.
LA NUIT TOMBE SUR L’EUROPE from Les films du Bilboquet on Vimeo.
A look against the current on the roads of exile
Based on the work and research of Amnesty International, Samuel Bollendorff resumed the refugee route. A return to places more or less known, sometimes forgotten after being overexposed.
His work derogates from the representations identified. It provokes and renews the look. The bias is assumed: his images that do not show the refugees but exposes the places they have crossed. Images embodied in their dialogue with the testimonies.
Europe asylum against Europe fortress
The situation of refugees is the worst that Europe has known since the Second World War. By 2015 more than 1 million people have applied for asylum in Europe and at least 3,700 people have “disappeared” at sea. More than 5,000 in 2016. In response, the European Union erect a fortress and do not take measures to ensure the security of the refugees.
The refugee crisis is above all a crisis of reception by the European states which are discarding their responsibilities and obligations.
Speeches and information about refugees are numerous, sometimes instrumentalized, particularly in electoral contexts. There is no shortage of images that testify to the situation. However, they do not appear to cause changes in policy, nor do they change perceptions. In any case not in a sustainable way.
In such a context, it is crucial to give everyone the means to understand and reflect on what being refugee in Europe means. It is crucial that everyone can understand the reality and brutality of these exile paths, but also to grasp the singularity and humanity that the flow of images or information no longer allows to distinguish.
Night falls on Europe reflects this ambition.
An exhibition that is extended by a film
Night falls on Europe is also the one that falls on the Aegean Sea in this first and sometimes final stage of the journey.
This is reflected in a 15-minute documentary produced by Les Films du Bilboquet. A sequence shot of the night falling on Europe and the Aegean Sea with a text read by Catherine Deneuve. A citizen figure who pays tribute to these fateful destinies on the road to exile.
Some links to the press review:
Libération, Le Monde, l’humanité, La Chronique, ELLE, L’Obs, RFI, FIP, BFM, TV5, Polka Magazine, Fisheye…
