We’ve found the next Cesar for Best Documentary! Discover Life With Wolves, in theaters today

An animal, political and philosophical documentary

Jean-Michel Bertrand observes nature from his tiny cabin, clinging to the rock where he lives as a hermit. A patient gaze, binoculars, and camouflaged cameras are all good tools for examining from afar that most fascinating of wild creatures: the wolf.

But in recent years the animal has returned to French territory and is not welcome. Breeders in particular are helpless in the face of these deadly attacks that are decimating their herds. So who, the wolf or the man, is more legitimate to call home?

The return of the wolf to the French mountains is at the center of public debate, causing as much wonder as anger. On the one hand, animal advocates are excited by the reappearance of a specimen they once believed had disappeared from the area. Breeders, on the other hand, mourn the loss of their animals.

Attacks, threats, stalking and killing prey were considered dangerous… So many tensions are crystallized by the current subject, with no apparent solution.

The wolf is not only in the mountains… it is also in the plains and even in Brittany!

Humble, passionate and charming look of a wolf man, a man who respects wolves

decision Jean-Michel Bertrand He doesn’t pretend he has, and it’s not because of his new documentary, Living With Wolves, already in theaters. With humility and passion, he places himself only as a mediator and observer of the situation, which he tries to capture from both sides.

After two animal feature films, Valley of the Wolves and Walks with the Wolves, the director is so close to the beast that he himself seems halfway between his nature as a man and the subject he takes on.

Secluded in the heart of nature, Jean-Michel Blanc Bertrand leads a simple and reserved existence, in perfect harmony with the rich ecosystem that surrounds him. “I spent a lot of time, alone, in the mountains photographing wolves and nature“, he says.

An opportunity to offer the astonished viewer some sublime panoramas, but also an incomparable closeness to a fleeting animal.

Therefore, the collection, search and observation of his main subject of drinking water represents his inspiring daily life, built on the basic and moral principle of respect. Of course, there is no problem with approaching the wolf or trying to tame it, just understand how it works to become its official advocate.

This respect for the animal is felt only by the filmmaker and the narrator towards the breeders whose herds are sometimes slaughtered.

With all the humility that characterizes his modus operandi, Jean-Michel Bertrand So he leaves without any judgment to meet these men and women whose very existence undermines carnivory. Testimonies, sometimes crude and graphic, scream the urgency of their plight.

More than the wolf, its reintegration into France or its way of life is why we need to learn to live with it. Jean-Michel Bertrand trying to catch Given the refusal and impossibility of eliminating this protected species necessary for the osmosis of the ecosystem, modern man must now accept it in his daily life, learn to tolerate its existence and keep a good distance from it.

“Wolves are excellent guides, the filmmaker explains, because they are an indicator of the biological health of the natural environment. They are also indicative of our ability as humans to accept nature.”

After Walks With Wolves and Valley of Wolves, Jean-Michel Blanc’s Living With Wolves is now in theaters.