Le Denis

From his fingers emerge a multitude of engraved, sculpted or bas-relief figures, drawn in charcoal or pastel. Not forgetting the variety of vegetables and flowers in his garden, where the odd bug still flits about. But no more bees.

"Denis, straight out of the Age of Enlightenment – brother, cousin and confidant of the encyclopaedist Diderot – the name Denis delighted me throughout our cinematic encounter, so much so that I took the liberty of bidding him farewell with the words, “See you tomorrow, Denis, and have a safe cycle homeOOOO.” How touching his local accent is when it’s rooted in an open and authentic human outlook. And on his bike, his head protected by his black beret, he criss-crosses the quiet paths of the Haute-Saône, ‘la Haute patate’ as they still say with a certain city-dweller’s irony. And he rides straight ahead, as straight as his words full of common sense, love for nature in distress (the death of the bees is a tragedy for him) and ironic observations on the excesses and excesses of his contemporaries. Denis is ‘the honest man’, as Montaigne defined him, a man whose view of the world is full of respect, humanity and hope; Denis reconciles us with ourselves – and ultimately with the whole world – as he opens our eyes with such simplicity. Thank you, Denis."  Jean-Marie Fawer filmmaker