Gens du lac

In Gens du lac Jean-Marie Straub traces the journey of two fishermen on Lake Geneva, as described by Swiss writer Janine Massard. In her eponymous novel, she retells how a young fisherman, Paulus, aided the Résistance, helping fighters and refugees, and later engaged in forming a Swiss new left. As the boat moves slowly across the landscape, the speaker reads fragments of Massard’s novel. His voice impassive as the landscape itself, his words nevertheless convey passionate political commitment. (Viennale)