Colours of Time (La Venue de l'avenir)

Look at me.

- What is it? - Not too far, not too many paintings?

We’ll see, but we can see you well.

Good, like that.

OK, go ahead.

- That was great, huh? - Yes, very good.

Shall we take a look? Bring the photographer.

That dress is beautiful. The collection is amazing. The colors are…

And the makeup is cool.

The yellow of the dress doesn’t match the colors of the painting.

I can change it later.

- It can’t. - It’s a shared interaction.

- Change the colors of the painting. - Good idea.

- Yes, great. - Exactly.

Thank you for coming. We’ve been preparing this for a long time with…

Marilyne Ménard, the genealogist, and my collaborator Jocelyne Jean-Baptiste.

As you know, you are all descendants of a woman born in 1873,

Adèle Meunier, born Vermillard.

Marilyne spent two years researching to map your family connection.

- The floor is yours. - Thank you.

Adèle Meunier had three children from whom you descend.

So you come from three different branches.

There it is. This is your entire family.

Now they will appear… There it is.

We’ve put deceased people in grey and in color you’ll see

all members of your family who are still alive and maybe here today.

We did this research because the municipality

wants to buy the house and adjacent land of Adèle Meunier.

I now give the floor to Mr. Duquesne, head of economic development.

In practical terms, we want to expand the existing commercial area

to create an attractive European center.

Of course there will be a parking lot with 3,000 spaces. Even

an eco-parking area, right on the land of your family's house.

The house seems to have been closed since 1944.

It can only be opened with the heirs present.

Choose four representatives

to open the house with the relevant authority.

You must be a representative. Yes, you must be there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you…

You’re welcome.

Ladies and gentlemen, do you give permission to open the door?

Yes, go ahead.

Wonderful, all these photos.

- Isn’t it? - Yes.

This is the whole history of your family.

What painting is this?

I don’t know, but

it’s very beautiful.

I don’t know what it is.

It’s moving though.

We do descend from all these people.

I was looking at these.

She here could be my grandmother.

And if I understood correctly, that is Adèle Meunier you were talking about, yes?

That could very well be Adèle Meunier with her three children.

- Ophélie. - My great-grandmother.

François and the baby could be Louis.

Ophélie is your great-grandmother? Strange, that's quite far back.

Ophélie is the sister of my great-grandfather Louis.

So your grandmother went to live in Algeria?

- My mother. - Your mother? Ah,

my mother talked about a great-aunt with an Algerian.

She already had two children before going to Algeria.

She met my father, Mohamed, and from there I was born.

That makes things clearer.

- Are you OK? - Yes, no, sorry, I

worked 15 hours yesterday. I’m a bit… I’ll sit down for a moment.

Have you seen the 1944 calendar?

The days are crossed out until September 4.

They may have been victims of bombings.

The city was destroyed in two days.

Imagine.

- Are you leaving? - Yes.

Why are you only saying this today?

I knew it’s hard for you, but

it’s hard for me too.

Saying it earlier would have been worse.

- You would have forced me to stay. - Yes, stay.

- You can’t just leave. - Yes, I want to go to Paris, Gaspard.

- I need to know who my mother is. - It’s dangerous to go alone.

- I’ll write to you. - But you can’t write.

I’ll find someone.

So you’ll think of me.

It won’t survive the journey.

Here.

Don’t be angry.

I have no family here and I realize…

I can’t grow up if I don’t know my mother.

Trust me.

Of course I trust you.

Everything OK?

- We’re leaving soon. I’ll wait for you there. - I’m coming.

Shall we take a walk?

- What walk? - That we tell something about ourselves.

We’re family, but we don’t know each other.

- Strange, right? - Indeed.

You, for example. What do you do, Seb?

I create digital media.

"A".

- What do you mean, "a"? - Media.

Yes, an "a". Digital media.

Because I hope you did not make just one.

And what do you do?

I am a transport engineer.

I studied Innovation & Disruption at CNAM.

Now I work on disruptive projects for a subsidiary of SNCF.

What is disruptive?

Development happens in two ways.

Evolutionarily, step by step, or rather through a break in the trend, a disruption.

- Which side are you on? - I believe in breaks with trends.

In terms of technology, then.

You say technology because you're getting divorced?

Yes, well... It's a bit more complicated.

I do not need to ask you.

You're a French teacher.

Sure thing. At the university.

As a professor, you're also a community manager these days.

I spend my life replying.

If it is not the parents, it is the students or other teachers.

The government must stop squeezing us dry.

They do not understand national education. The minister keeps changing.

It keeps getting worse. But I do not complain, I love my job.

I want to work with students, not ministers. So nothing changes.

Well, if nobody asks: I am a beekeeper.

- Beekeeper? - Yes, yes...

That's great. I mean: It is necessary.

- Yes, at breakfast. - Beekeeper is too narrow.

Of course I make honey and take care of the bees.

But above all, I am an activist for the NBU.

- NBU? - Yes, the National Bee Union.

We fight a lot against capital. In fact, against all the crap.

Genetic modification, pesticides, all that junk.

We do not realize that if it goes on like this, there will be no bees left.

- Nothing. - Sorry, my girlfriend is calling.

- She just got back from Dubai. Hello? - Bees are extraordinary...

- Yeah, Seb, where are you? - On the train.

Capu Elisa and I are going to celebrate the beginning of the end of fashion week tonight.

- Do you want to come? - I would love to.

Cool, it is going to be wild. I am so happy. Kisses.

They can pass on to other bees the position of the sun and the distance.

Their dance is special, but beautiful to watch, how they move their wings.

The changes in rhythm and...

These days everything moves so fast. Right?

You young people do not even take the time to live.

That's true.

One thing, then another.

Young people like you are not what they used to be.

We had to say things. Just like that.

To exchange pleasantries.

I do not know.

Hello, madam, how are your sheep?

Very well, thank you. And you?

Shall we divide the tasks?

And keep the others informed?

I can call the developer.

It is weird that they do not name an amount and insist on selling.

I find it odd too. I am going to check the paintings and all that.

Just to be safe: Do we have to sell the house?

No, but dividing it into 30 pieces is rather complicated.

- Sure. - I have to go.

- We will talk in the group. - Goodbye...

Cheers, yeah?

Hello.

Hello...

- Are you going to Paris? - Yes.

Ever been there before?

- No. - Neither have we.

We are from Le Havre. And you?

- I come from Saint-Jean-Brunval. - That is not very far.

My name is Lucien. He is Anatole.

- We are going to work in Paris. - That is me.

What are you going to do?

I am going to look for my mother.

My grandmother raised me and then she died.

That is why I decided to look for my mother.

At least to tell her that.

How long have you not seen your mother?

Twenty years.

And did you not say you are 21?

Yes, I am 21.

- Well, Anatole is an artist. - Painter.

And...

- I am a photographer. - Because he cannot draw.

Nonsense, I can draw very well.

- Not true. - He says that because he is a painter.

He does not understand that painting will soon no longer exist.

Of course, it is no longer needed.

No longer needed.

It will always exist, do you not think so?

- It is disappearing, everyone knows that. - Painting is for workers,

photography for slackers.

Why did you leave Le Havre?

Paris is the center.

- We know someone there. - Someone important to us.

We will surely find work.

Almost certainly. We talked about it. Have you not seen him in a long time?

- He is my uncle. - Have you not seen him in a long time?

- But he's my uncle. - But you haven't seen him in a long time?