2012 • 9' • French & German
Director(s): Gil Kébaïli, Norbert Evangelista • Producer(s): Grand Angle Productions • Coproducer(s): France Télévisions • Format(s): HD
Toulon, France’s most important naval base. As early as the 16th century, its situation in the shelter of the mountains conferred on it the status of a military port. Today, the majority of the French navy is anchored within its harbour. At the crossroads between Marseilles and Nice, Toulon nevertheless reaps no glory from their road traffic. Weary of wasting hours in the jams, inhabitants prefer to take the ferries of the “Mistral” urban water network.
In an intermediate bay, and in quite a different register, the coastal resort of Sanary-sur-Mer was the base camp for a famous team, including a certain Jacques-Yves Cousteau. To the south, the Ile des Embiez was once covered in salt pastures before businessman Paul Ricard turned it into a marina.
The Saint-Mandrier peninsula, moored by a line of dunes, is the result of an astonishing natural phenomenon. But there’s more remarkable yet. The Giens peninsula is attached to the mainland by a double band of sediment that is unique in the world. Between the two tombolos stretch the Hyères salt marshes whose sole mission is the protection of biodiversity.
