Cigales (Cicadas)
2024 · 16m · France
Directed by Joanny Causse
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative, surreal, tender
An observational documentary set in one of France's largest leisure villages, compressing the full arc of a summer camping vacation into a single day — poolside scenes, water slides, evening activities, and quiet moments — capturing the ritual of communal relaxation that defines French summer culture.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Compresses a whole French camping vacation into one day in 1.33:1 painterly compositions. Tasteful. Painterly. Contemplative. The trifecta of words that make me suspicious.
Causse compresses a French summer camping vacation into one day in 1.33:1 painterly observation — the Daguerréotypes lineage is precisely right, and the format choice is the formal gesture. Modest scale, real curatorial sensibility.
Short of the Week-curated 15-minute observational doc, 16K views — the 1.33:1 painterly compression of a full French camping summer into one day is exactly the kind of formal compression doc needs to be more than tourism footage. Sun-soaked and patient.
Reviews
An artful exploration of relaxation — the film's observational approach invites the audience to feel part of the experience.
Photo-like compositions offering almost timeless glimpses at a seasonal landscape.