Les Blanches Terres, literally the white fields, is a remote locality in Lorraine, a region of Eastern France. Its charm escapes those who pass through. Michelle, the director’s grandmother, has always lived there, and is firmly established. A widow for twenty years, she fights isolation through nearly daily contact with her cousins, friends and few neighbours.

Concerned about preserving and passing on the memory of the Blanches Terres, Michelle has filled dozens of photo albums throughout her life. But for now, she is lucidly observing the looming disappearance of all traces of these “tiny lives” in Les Blanches Terres.

The director, who is also a photographer, asks Michelle and “the cousins” to be part of her new photographic work. What image should they give of themselves at 80 or more years old? What can be kept as a record of what is being erased? Through their portraits, the film tells of a world that has become almost invisible to us.

Released Monday 8 March at 18.00. The movie was available for streaming for 48 h. 

Trailer FORGOTTEN LANDS from Amélie Cabocel on Vimeo.