Finis Terrae
Jean Epstein, FR 1928Screenplay: Jean Epstein; Cinematography: Joseph Barth, Joseph Kottula; Cast: Jena-Marie Laot, Ambroise Rouizic, Malgorn, François Morin, Pierre, Gibois. DCP (from 35mm), bw, 80 min. French intertitles with English subtitles
Four men travel to a remote island to collect seaweed. A young man is injured following a quarrel and ends up passing out from a fever. When the inhabitants of the neighbouring island do not receive the signal they were expecting, they launch a rescue mission in a heavy storm. Finis Terrae is the miraculous first entry in the series of films that Epstein shot in the islands of Brittany, his second home in the 1930s. Their stories are definitely not the main attraction; Finis Terrae is above all a visionary masterpiece of the rhythmic, powerful, harmonic orchestration of light, stretches of wind-swept land, bodies and water. (C.H.) Epstein talks about his trip with the "cinematograph on the archipelago": "I had come here to film men who are accustomed to the four elements, who fished for seaweed, dried it and burnt it; men who stretched their arms into the fire, who sailed from the wind and lay down to sleep where a small piece of earth can be found. If alchemy exists: the souls of these men will never disappoint us."
Piano accompaniment by Maud Nelissen on October 26, 2025
Piano accompaniment by Elaine Brennan on November 27, 2025
Screening dates:
So 26.10.2025 11:00
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