DIRECTED BY: Jean-François Ravagnan
LANGUAGE(S): Fulani
SUBTITLES: English
PRODUCER: Julie Frères
EDITED BY: Marc Recchia
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Thomas Schira
MUSIC: Jean Kapsa
Screenings
Synopsis
In January 2017, a video of a young Gambian drowning in the waters of Venice’s Grand Canal went viral on social networks. From the shore, passers-by insulted him without helping him. Filmed with a mobile phone, the body, petrified by the cold, appears to be sinking despite the lifebuoys thrown in its direction. He was 22 and his name was Pateh Sabally. 2500 miles away, the voices and faces of his family tell the story that preceded this tragedy, the story behind the images…
Director
Jean-François Ravagnan
Biography
Jean-François Ravagnan is a Belgian director. Born in 1983 in Liège, he studied at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Louvain-la-Neuve. Since 2007, he has worked as an assistant director, including for the Dardenne brothers on LORNA’S SILENCE and THE KID WITH A BIKE. In 2015, he directed his short film RENAÎTRE, selected for the International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival. THE LAST SHORE is his first feature documentary and premiered at Visions du Réel. In addition to working on films he pursues a personal photographic practice he describes as a “visual notebook” – an intuitive collection of moments, places, and encounters that, like a “museum of memory,” continually shape his cinematic and theatrical storytelling.
Filmography
Renaître (2015), The Last Shore (2025)