France is regularly condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, as in January, for prison overcrowding in its prisons. One of the emblematic establishments of this situation, the former prison of Baumettes in Marseille - now closed - agreed to host for 25 days, in immersion, Jean-Robert Viallet and Alice Odiot, who directed the film there Men in theaters on Wednesday. In the company of Yves Feuillerat, director of the new prison center in Marseille, they tell the lessons of this report, which is released in theaters on Wednesday, in It happened tomorrow , on Europe 1.
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Make people forget the camera to live an "experience by proxy"
The directors' objective is to show the daily life of the prisons, as Jean-Robert Viallet explains: "We had the goal of going inside the prison and taking the spectator, to make a sort of Proxy experience of what prison is, that's why we stayed in the building where people live, spend the brightest, or the darkest part of their time: 10:30 p.m. time".
To successfully transcribe this atmosphere, the two journalists tried to make the camera forget. "The detainees were all aware that this film was going to be made, that it was in progress. We always say that the camera is forgotten by the detainees, I no longer believe that it is forgotten by the spectators, we don't see it The detainees seize them, it is a way for them to be in contact with the outside world and to demonstrate that they are who they are, "analyzes Jean-Robert Viallet. The opportunity also to beat in breach "the external representations distorted compared to the prison" according to Yves Feuillerat, director of Baumettes.
"A report where the camera is forgotten"
This dive as close as possible to the prisoners and the guards thus testifies to the deep humanity which persists in prison. For Alice Odiot, "humanity is there everywhere, we started from the desire they had to be filmed, to talk about them, their living conditions, but also the desire of prison staff to show in which conditions they work with these men. " An immersion into cells explains it further: "A cell is not very large, there are two or three of them and we come into an intimacy that is extremely special: their emotional sphere, their silences, their boredom, their body marked. We were lucky to be accepted by them. "
"I felt these images with great satisfaction, it is a report or the camera is forgotten and or we can see live this care of prisoners by prison staff who has the desire to do their job well", underlines Yves Feuillerat, director of the new penitentiary center of Marseille, "in a context which was unfortunately that of the historic Baumettes, that is to say an overcrowded and breathless prison, after 80 years of operation and over -occupation". 30,000 prisoners lived in the building, which is now closed.
"In prison, we also exchange sugar coffee, it's not just the reign of drugs"
The documentary tries not to water down anything. "We film reality, we invent nothing, life inside, regular recidivism. The detainees have about 15 things in their lockers" says Jean-Robert Viallet. This includes violence and drug trafficking, although for Alice Odiot, it is important to qualify. "It's not just that in prison, we also exchange sugar coffee, it's not only the reign of drugs. I think it's a demonstration of permanent virility because yes, there "We have to survive. The promenade was filmed behind bars, it is an extremely dangerous place, the guards cannot enter it. Violence is everywhere, we have to defend ourselves constantly."
The reality is also the testimony of Christelle Rotach, the former director of the prison, who brought the two directors into this prison "to show us absolutely everything and without hiding anything," reports Alice Odiot. "She said to us: 'I have a person with Down syndrome in this building, at night I have no supervisor there, for lack of means' so the supervisors open the door in the morning hoping that nothing happened during the night" .
"What the detainees say is that the prison will change them forever and that they will find it extremely difficult to readjust to the world of free men" reports Alice Odiot. For Yves Feuillerat, the documentary, "it is an educational tool, which shows the functioning of a dilapidated prison, but I have the optimism to think that with the evolution of mentalities, the construction of new structures, the taking in charge of detainees will only be improved and we must effectively fight overcrowding. "