Du bleu au-dessus des arbres

For the record, the first sign of spring: almond blossom against a backdrop of blue sky and olive leaves rustling in the wind.

Last night we went to see Du bleu au-dessus des toits, a film by local director Stéphane Kowalczyk, who was at the screening along with some of the actors for a discussion afterwards. I can't recommend that you go and see it because it has no distributor (though you can watch on the Internet). 

It's a two-hour film which amazingly was filmed in 20 days (spread over a period of about 9 months) with no budget other than a grant of 5,000 euros as artist in residence at a local college (some of the students played parts in the film). Everyone except the sound engineers worked for nothing. 

Sure, it's not a slick production -- it has home-made written all over it -- but it was funny and touching, with entertaining performances from the central trio. A social comedy in which three lonely and frustrated men decide to improve the world in their own offbeat way. As well as recognising locations we also unexpectedly recognised the son of a friend playing a bit part (he was an extra, but the person who was supposed to play the part didn't turn up). An entertaining night out.