I myself learned a lot as I was shooting this film. It confirmed my idea that documentaries are a discipline that teaches modesty. Meanwhile we keep finding new locations. Then we start shooting again and editing more. Then the commentary text begins to take shape, words give rise to new ideas and call for new images.
New information comes up, new contacts.
We then go back on the road again. And last comes the editing, the music, the mixing and the finishing touches. The encounters I make and the shots I take, alone or together with a team, the editing style, with echoing or counter pointing moments, the wording of the voiceover commentary, the choice of music, all this isn't simply writing a script, or directing a film or wording a commentary, all this is chance working with me, all this is the film writing that I often talk about. The film was shot in the North of France, and in Beauce, Jura, Provence, Pyrenees Orientales, and in Paris and its suburbs. Between September 1999 and April 2000 we shot for 29 days in teams, going on for 4 to 7 days at a go.