SIGAŌ, en torno al silencio

Created at the end of 1995, Les Inattendus works with and questions the links established in the city between the social and cultural realities which sustain it and its visual and aural representations. This questioning is developed in two directions: on the one hand, in creative workshops, spaces of cinematographic experimentation, or of initiation into the audiovisual, adapted to different contexts: schools, inhabitants of the Guillotière and Gerland neighbourhoods, etc. And, on the other hand, through a series of events and meetings: a biennial festival dedicated to original cinema, regular screenings of experimental documentaries and films, performances, etc. The short film, "SIGAŌ, en torno al silencio" is part of a project that the director-editor, Lionel Retornaz, member of Les Inattendus, developed over 7 years with the inhabitants of the Cité Jardin neighbourhood, in the old, working-class district of Gerland (Lyons). It comprised 5 short films, one every year, between 2015 and 2019 and one feature-length film, between 2020 and 2022.

With a concrete theme (silence) as the starting point, unemployed inhabitants of a neighbourhood in Lyons are invited to take part in a film workshop. The workshop consists of a six-week, intensive course: two weeks of watching films linked to the theme; two weeks of writing, preparation and learning about the camera equipment; and two weeks of filming. Later, the artistic consultant starts the editing process and collective screenings are organised with the participants every two or three weeks. The final version is agreed upon by the group before the film is screened, first in the neighbourhood and then at several places around the city of Lyons.