Le Vagabond du marais
Anthony Martin
2003 - 52 min - Betacam SX - Couleur - France

The film explores the riches of a marshy valley and the possible exchanges between man and nature in this preserved context. The guide in this discovery is an old poacher, Jean, who knows the local ecosystem perfectly since he feeds on it, although that is forbidden. He knows the incorrigible greed of his friend Lolo the local policeman that he entertains with his atrocities. He lives in the middle of the marsh with his mare. Every year, a foal is born at Jean’s giving new birth to the place that the little horses maintain naturally.
There is one shadow over this scene : the decision to attract tourists by turning the valley into an ornithological park. To attract the birds who are supposed to adorn the landscape, a new kind of crayfish is implanted. This devastating crustacean with its irreversible proliferation will upset the balance of the valley. The prohibition of hunting in what has become a nature reserve complicates Jean’s situation. He is however the first to understand the consequences of the arrival of thousands of fish-eating birds.