Sans adieu

The late French photographer turned filmmaker Christophe Agou’s posthumously completed documentary about France’s rural poor. Intimate, empathetic but admittedly episodic at times – with some jarring editing decisions and an excessive use of fade-to-black – Sans adieu – thrives because Agou didn’t simply drench his subjects in misery. He also managed to tease out the vibrant, steel-willed and surprisingly droll personalities of these poor, forgotten souls struggling to make ends meet. (Viennale)