Our Salvation

France, September 1940. 49-year-old engineer Henri Marre (Swann Arlaud, Anatomie d’une chute) arrives alone in Vichy. Without connections, he tries to carve out a place for himself within the new regime. In his suitcase is Notre salut, a self-written political manuscript that he wants to get published at all costs. Henri claims to want to save France from ruin, but gradually it becomes clear that he is mainly trying to save himself.\n\nRegisseur Emmanuel Marre (Rien à foutre) found the inspiration for the film in some 300 letters from his own grandparents. Instead of idealizing his family history, he sketches a razor-sharp portrait of a man whose convictions are mainly determined by what suits him best at that moment. Opportunism quickly turns into collaboration in wartime. Marre pours all of this into a surprisingly playful form: a war drama that shows Hannah Arendts banality of the evil in its unvarnished everydayness in a mix between "The office" and "The Zone of Interest". Notre salut had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where Marre won the award for Beste Scenario.