September 1940. Pétain's regime is established. Forty-nine-year-old Henri Marre arrives in Vichy penniless, without contacts, and far from his wife and children. Yet in the new administration he sees an opportunity to finally attain the position he believes he deserves. In his suitcase he carries his self-published political treatise, ‘Our Salvation’, in which he sets out his patriotic convictions and his engineer's methodology. His credo —"Greater efficiency"— is aimed at rescuing France from defeat. But perhaps, above all, Henri is trying to escape his own personal downfall.
Emmanuel Marre
Born in Paris (France) in 1980, he studied Literature before graduating in Film from the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium. He has directed several documentaries and short films, including the acclaimed ‘The Summer Movie’ (2017), which competed at the Berlinale and won the Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand. In 2018, he teamed up with Julie Lecoustre to create the medium-length film ‘Castle to Castle’, winner of the Leopard of Tomorrow award at Locarno, and in 2021 the pair co-directed ‘Zero Fucks Given’, which won an award at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week. ‘A Man of His Time’ (2026), loosely based on the life of his great-grandfather, is his first solo feature film and won the Best Screenplay award at Cannes.
Kidam, Michigan Films, Condor Distribution, Les Films Pelléas, Unité, Les Films de Pierre, France 2 Cinéma, The Ink Connection, RTBF, Be Tv & Orange Proximus
Kidam, Michigan Films, Condor Distribution, Les Films Pelléas, Unité, Les Films de Pierre, France 2 Cinéma, The Ink Connection, RTBF, Be Tv & Orange Proximus
