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‘The Green Eyes’ Is a Refugee Adventure Drama for Our Time (Exclusive Trailer)
"The Green Eyes" ("Les Yeux Verts"), a refugee adventure drama by French writer-directors Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, will open the 79th Locarno Film Festival on Wednesday evening with its world premiere on the Piazza Grande. The film matters as a rare attempt to tell a refugee story from a child's point of view, drawing on Resignation Syndrome, a real but rare condition in which traumatised refugee children fall into a coma-like withdrawal state, to explore themes of displacement and resilience.
The story follows 11-year-old Chaya and her family, refugees living in France's Landes region, whose brother Nour falls into a mysterious sleep when the family faces deportation; Chaya sets out to enter his dreams and wake him. The cast includes newcomer Douae Butarbuch M'Zaouki alongside Sayyid El Alami and Anamaria Vartolomei, with the screenplay co-written by the directors and Guillaume Laurant (Amélie). It is a France-Belgium-Sweden co-production, with Kinology handling international sales, and its Locarno premiere follows the presentation of an Excellence Award to Isabella Rossellini.
In short
- "The Green Eyes" opens Locarno Film Festival's 79th edition on Wednesday
- Drama tells a refugee child's story via Resignation Syndrome-inspired plot
- France-Belgium-Sweden co-production stars Douae Butarbuch M'Zaouki, Sayyid El Alami
Explained simply
Resignation Syndrome is a rare condition reported in some traumatised refugee children, who can become withdrawn and unresponsive, sometimes in a coma-like state. The film uses this condition as the starting point for a story about a family facing displacement and uncertainty in France.
The story centres on 11-year-old Chaya, her brother Nour and their family in the Landes region. When Nour falls into a mysterious sleep as the family faces deportation, Chaya sets out to enter his dreams and wake him.
The film is directed by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, and stars newcomer Douae Butarbuch M'Zaouki, Sayyid El Alami and Anamaria Vartolomei. Its child’s-eye view offers one way to explore how displacement affects families, and how children respond to it.