Liberating land from ecocide: “An Island and One Night” (“Une Ile et une nuit”)

Social Innovation Atelier, 95 Clegg St.

“ZAD,” or “zone à defender,” has entered the European lexicon as a general term for militant direct collective action against large-scale development projects. First coming into prominence in the collective opposition airport construction in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, France, (still the largest self-organized autonomous zone in Europe) the approach and tactic has spread widely. To be a “zadiste” is defined in the Le Petit Robert dictionary as “a militant occupying a ZAD to oppose a proposed development that would damage the environment.” In the Canadian context, we know relatively little about these concrete fights or the conceptual formation of this idea. Come hear from a visiting European radical who has spent time on many ZADs over the last years and will share insights and an autonomously created film illuminating this tendency.

What does life feel like in zones liberated from ecocidal capitalism? Will its residents – moved together by war and climate change – develop a kind of relation with the land they live on that simply abandons the bureaucratic methods of the last “green capitalists”? Residents of the Quartier Libre des Lentillières in Dijon, one of the most famous occupied zones in France, have produced an auto-fictional cinematic firework in a self-managed and collective manner, which makes the desire for radical-ecological change sensually comprehensible. It gives a magnificent insight into current radical French activist scenes around the strategy of the ZAD and can serve as a generous starting point for a trans-Atlantic discussion on how liberatory strategies of reclaiming territory can look and feel like in a world tainted by settler-colonialism, fascism and other toxic forms of exclusion.

The film An Island and One Night (“Une Ile et une nuit”) has screened widely in the European context, but is normally only shown when one of the activists from Lentillieres is with it. Activist/artist Kilian Jörg will be visiting North America for two months in the Fall of 2024, and was invited by the group who made the film to share it with us. Ottawa is one of the very few screening sites in North America!

About the film: An Island and One Night (“Une Ile et une nuit”) is a fictional film made collectively over the past two years by the residents and users of the Quartier Libre des Lentillères, a self-organized area on the last remaining market garden land in the city of Dijon. These eight hectares have been occupied and recultivated since 2010, in resistance to a concrete “ecocity” project that still threatens them today. In the middle of the city, these fallow spaces and abandoned houses have been transformed into a self-managed, multi-purpose district, where collective housing, market gardening, self-construction, festive and cultural events, etc. intermingle. It’s a place of struggle and solidarity of all kinds, as well as a veritable reserve of biodiversity.

In this film, we use the prism of the imaginary to talk about reality, about what we live here, how we got here, what we’re looking for and what we’re fighting against every day. It’s a musical and danced fiction, without heroes or heroines, with houses that are boats (and vice versa), pirates of all kinds and as many different languages… In short, the Quartier Libre des Lentillères is a treasure island into the eye of cinema!

Self-produced, self-distributed and based on volunteer participation, this film shot on 16mm silver film was built up over the course of the area’s life, in correlation with it, to the rhythm of events and seasons. From writing to filming to editing, each stage of the process was collective and participatory, with everyone sharing their know-how.

The film’s music is made up of original tracks composed during the making of the film, as well as pre-existing tracks from supportive bands who have played at the Quartier in the past.

The distribution of An Island and One Night will initially take the form of itinerant screenings – either free or on donation base, in keeping with this non-mercantile spirit. On the technical side, the film can be screened in digital or 16mm, depending on the location and the motivation.

Beyond the pleasure of sharing this creation with a large and diverse audience, this tour will be an opportunity to pass on through encounters our experience of struggle, self-organization and the invention of forms of collective life geared towards a good life for all, and respectful of all living beings.

www.piratesdeslentilleres.net/en

Space Accessibility:
The Atelier has a barrier-free entry with an automatic front door. The space is all one level, except for a very small lip to get onto the wood floor in the lounge area. There is one accessible washroom, and both washrooms are gender-neutral. There is dim lighting throughout the space. We are also a scent-free space.