Real Country Folks
Catherine Pistre
2014 - 89 min - Digital vidéo - Couleur - France

Béarn, the countryside around Pau. Two homes, three farmers: Julia Cournet and her bachelor son Jean. Michel Dantin and his wife Henriette.
In the 1960s, drove millions of these small farmers off their land.
This film explores the approach each family took to perpetuating a heritage.
Julia Cournet was born “just after the 1914 war.” She and her sister “kept the farm going for a long time”. But when her sister married, “I definitely needed a partner, so I got married.”
Jean Cournets' troubles started in 1976, when a storm ripped the roof and his herd of cows was decimated by disease. Jean borrowed 250,000 francs. His tale reveals the unexpected path he took to recovery.
Michel Dantin and his wife Henriette worked at the artillery factory in Tarbes. When his father died, they worked at the factory and in the fields, Henriette speaks of slavery. But according to Michel, farming isn’t a job. "It’s a visceral attachment to the land".