In September 1944, the war in Normandy was over – and the region lay tragically devastated. That first day, and every day that followed, dozens of Normans captured it on the fragile, light-sensitive film of their home movies. Intimate, distinctive, sometimes malicious, the rediscovered fragments of their chronicle reveal far more than a true story: a lived one.
They filmed the slow reconstruction in the wake of war and, from the 1950s onward, a remarkable revival: the baby boom, the rise of consumer society, the dawn of leisure and tourism… until another shock hit – the Algerian War.
Drawing on dozens of hours of exceptional footage, this documentary tells the story of fifteen years – from 1945 to 1960 – of a generation determined to heal its wounds, re-enchant life, and rise again from the ruins.
Direction: Stéphane Miquel
Production: Keren Production for France Télévisions