Devil’s Rope

La Corde du Diable

DIRECTOR: Sophie Bruneau   COUNTRY: Belgium   YEAR: 2014   LANGUAGE(S): English   SUBTITLES: German  RUNNING TIME: 88 min  

SECTION: International Competition 2015

SYNOPSIS

Who would have thought that a film essay about barbed wire could be so enthralling, poetic and political? Using impressive images, Sophie Bruneau talks about the myth of the American frontier, that promising transition zone between civilization and wilderness that has inspired countless westerns, and also about the cruel reality of migration towards the US today.

The freedom and adventure of the past are over. The pioneers’ descendants have long become settled landowners. Barbed wire now subdivides the land, fences in and keeps things and people out. Today’s adventurers come from the south; they are branded „illegal“ and persecuted. Bruneau examines the historical myth and the current reality in a fascinating way, both in terms of content and aesthetics: In a constant movement from right to left, from east to west, from the past to the present, she presents a subject that could not be more pertinent.

“It is the story of a universal and familiar tool: barbed wire. It dates back to the first settlers, the spirit of conquest and the control of the wilds. It is rooted into the American West’s development. It is the story of a small farming tool that became integrated into political history with the help of growing capitalism. It is the history of the evolution of surveillance and control techniques. The reversal of a relationship between man and animals. It is the story of the world of fencing in and the fencing in of the world.” (Sophie Bruneau)

SOPHIE BRUNEAU
Belgian-born Sophie Bruneau is an anthropologist and filmmaker. She founded her production company alteregofilms together with Marc Antoin Roudil. Their first joint short film FISHING ON HORSEBACK (1993) was shown at international festivals. Subsequent full-length films have also achieved international acclaim. Bruneau lives and works in Brussels.

FILMOGRAPHY
Fishing on Horseback (1993), Pardevant notaire (1999), Arbes (2001), Ils ne mouraient pas tous mais tous étaient frappés (2005), My Body Is My Degree (2005), Terre d’usage (2009), Madame Jean (2011), Animal on est mal (2014), L’amérique fantôme (2014), Devil’s Rope (2014)

PRODUCER: Marc-Antoine Roudil   CAMERA: Fiona Braillon, Rémon Fromont   EDITOR: Philippe Boucq

PRODUCTION: Alter Ego Films, Les Films du Nord   WORLD SALES: Marc-Antoine Roudil, Alter Ego Films