Heart to heart, Body to body, Cry to heart
Prix au Festival International de Monte-Carlo, 1992
Le Monde:
"Christophe de Ponfilly and Frédéric Laffont's documentary is exemplary in that it reveals humanitarian organisation in all its complexity and ambiguity, without imposing a particular point of view and without breaking the essential dream dimension.
This is their thirty-fifth film, and their most important since Poussières de guerre (about the war in Afghanistan). In 1990, after six months of preparation, Frédéric Laffont left Paris for Cambodia and Christophe de Ponfilly flew to Sri-Lanka. Twenty months later and twelve countries later, they returned with one hundred and twenty hours of film, which had to be reduced to three.
Their credo: take as much time as you need. Let people express themselves by filming their silences as much as their words," says Frédéric Laffont. 'But after three weeks of filming, sometimes there are only thirty seconds left!'
A 3x52 minutes collection
Films co-written and co-directed
by Frédéric Laffont
and Christophe de Ponfilly
Editing: Jean-François Giré
Length: 1h46'
© FR3, Gaumont Robur Télévision Multimédia, BRT, TSR, Interscoop, 1991
English version:
FRONT LINE DOCTORS
Médecins Sans Frontières, already 20 years old in 1991.
AT THE HEART: commitment.
IN THE BODY: the field.
IN CRISIS: questions and outrage.
With the voice of Michel Piccoli.
I remember quoting Bergson at the top of the production schedule:
'Act as a man of thought. Think as a man of action.'
Two years of filming, followed by a long personal partnership with MSF.
I became a member of the Board of Directors for six years. I met some of the best people of my life.