La Rosière de Pessac 79 & La Rosière de Pessac

Every year until 2014, the small town of Pessac near Bordeaux, Jean Eustache’s birthplace, used to crown a young woman aged between 16 and 22 as the “Rose Queen”, celebrating her “exemplary virtue”. The festival dates back to a tradition from the Middle Ages, which was revived in 1896 thanks to a donation from a wealthy citizen. The film shows how the Rose Queen is chosen at a ceremony in the town hall, as well as the festivities which take place a few weeks later, including a parade, a fair, speeches and a banquet. In Eustache’s own words, his first documentary did not seek to prove or criticize anything, but rather to give viewers the opportunity to watch a festival without any external framing – shot using direct sound, the film contains no interviews and no commentary. The re-recording of the ceremony eleven years after the first film is based on the idea of ‘filming the passage of time, that is, development and change within a constant setting, both of place and tradition (…) I would like the two films to be shown together: first the one from 1979, then the one from 1968. A way of saying to the audience: If you feel like seeing how things used to be, just stay, you will soon see.” (Jean Eustache) (hjf)