Night falls on Europe, a photographic exhibition and a film by Samuel Bollendorff, as been presented under the Canopée of Les Halles in Paris for one month, from April 15 to May 11, 2017, open access.
The exhibition under the Canopée des Halles brought together 100,000 visitors. The film has seen more than 140,000 views on the web and social networks.
The large format of the newspaper Le Monde, the posts on the Facebook page La Nuit Tombe sur l’Europe, relays on Twitter and Instagram have allowed us to reach more than one million people..
Produced in collaboration with Amnesty International and supported by the endowment fund agnes b. and Nikon, Night falls on Europe offers a different perspective on these journeys of women, men and children forced to flee the violence of conflict or persecution.
An exile that, step by step, exposes them to the violence of the smugglers, the police, the blows and the ratonnades, the rapes or the forced prostitution … While they seek protection and security, the refugees are too often confronted with violence, then with fear, rejection or stigma.
LA NUIT TOMBE SUR L’EUROPE from Les films du Bilboquet on Vimeo.
A different look on the roads of exile
Drawing on the work and research of Amnesty International, Samuel Bollendorff has returned to the refugee route. A return to more or less known places, 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 crossed. Images embodied by their dialogue with the testimonies.
Europe land of asylum against Europe fortress
The refugee situation is the most serious that Europe has known since the Second World War. In 2015, more than one million people applied for asylum in Europe and at least 3,700 people “disappeared” at sea. More than 5,000 in 2016. In response, the European Union countries are settling in fortress and do not take measures that would ensure security for refugees.
The refugee crisis is first and foremost a crisis of reception by the European states which are discarding their responsibilities and obligations.
Speeches and information on refugees are numerous, sometimes instrumental, especially in electoral contexts. The images are not lacking either which testify to the situation. However, this does not seem to be enough to provoke changes in policies, nor can it 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 a refugee in Europe means. It is crucial that everyone understands the reality and brutality of these journeys of exile, but also to grasp the singularity and humanity that the flow of images or information can no longer distinguish.
Night falls on Europe translates this ambition.
An exhibition extended with a film
Night falls on Europe is also that night which falls on the Aegean Sea in this first and sometimes final stage of the course.
A finding that results in a documentary of 15 minutes produced by Les Films du Bilboquet. A shot sequence of the night falling on Europe and the Aegean Sea with a text read by Catherine Deneuve. A citizen figure who pays homage to these destinies manhandled on the road to exile.
Press review :
Libération, Le Monde, l’humanité, La Chronique, ELLE, L’Obs, RFI, FIP, BFM, TV5, Polka Magazine, Fisheye…
