In Normandy, between 1939 and 1945, a handful of amateur filmmakers filmed their daily lives with the few cameras available at the time. For six years, they captured the darkest hours of history. They did so without knowing that Normandy would become the symbol and martyr of freedom. They did so, sometimes risking their lives, since filming under the Occupation was forbidden.
Their surviving images, long preserved in the shadows of family archives, recount the ordeal of WWII, from the mobilization to the recovery. From their windows of their houses, in the chaos of the ruins or in the midst of a jubilant crowd, these witnesses filmed it all: shortages, restrictions, daily hardship… but also family life, moments of joy and hope.
Based exclusively on these dozens of hours of exceptional footage, this documentary offers an unprecedented account of the war, from the point of view of civilians, against the backdrop of official films. Before our very eyes, the chronicle of these anonymous lives intertwines with the tragic chronology of our history.
Direction: Stéphane Miquel
Production: Keren Production for France Télévisions