Héloïse Goy, with Alexis Patri 11:18 a.m., February 28, 2022

France 3 broadcasts Monday evening the documentary "Max and the peasants", a film which follows Max, 73, a cattle dealer who helps breeders in distress.

Its director Régis Croizer explains to the microphone of Europe 1 why he chose to tell the life of the one who defines himself as a "rural assistant".

While the agricultural show opened its doors on Saturday and is held until March 6, France 3 broadcasts Monday evening

Max and the peasants

, a documentary on a man nicknamed "the guardian angel of the peasants of Isère".

This man is called Max, he is 73 years old and has been a horse dealer, that is to say a cattle dealer, for 50 years.

But Max is also a man who flies to the aid of desperate breeders in his region who can no longer take care of their animals for lack of means and who can no longer manage to make ends meet.

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"What is interesting with Max is that he says himself that he is a 'rural assistant', and that it is a job that does not exist", explains at the microphone of Europe 1 Régis Croizer, the director of the documentary.

"It is a necessity that he assists the breeders psychologically, because they very often work alone. Max is one of the few people who comes to the farms. He is sometimes the only person with whom the breeders speak in two weeks. And therefore the only person they can tell their problems to."

Peasant malaise aggravated by indebtedness

For 18 months, this director followed Max, who criss-crosses the Isère at the wheel of his cattle truck to cheer up breeders who are sometimes on the verge of suicide and try to find solutions to help them get back on their feet.

Through this endearing character and sometimes very moving scenes, this film bears witness to the scale of the livestock crisis in France and questions the existing solutions for these farmers. 

"The message of this film is that the current system puts breeders in very complicated situations, they are often very indebted. We wanted to talk about this discomfort of breeders, but also show a slightly more positive side, with someone one who tries to fight fate", specifies Régis Croizer.

"There are also great stories in breeding, with young people settling in, other ways of breeding."

Max and the peasants

 is broadcast Monday evening on France 3, from 11 p.m.

The documentary will also be available for replay on france.tv.