We were Exodus

The men who volunteered to crew the Exodus were a ragtag team of Jewish World War II veterans from several countries and mariners with a conscience from all over the world. Their recollections are the masts upon which Jean-Michel Vecchiet hangs the structure of his impeccably researched documentary about the ship Exodus ’47, which was both haven and prison to thousands of Holocaust survivors. The journey of the Exodus was the boldest clandestine immigration event following World War II. In July 1947, 4,551 survivors boarded the ship in Sète, France, and left secretly for Palestine. Intercepted by the British navy, the passengers were transferred to three English boats, which after nine days of a difficult journey, returned to Port-de-Bouc in Provence. The desperate but determined passengers were confined for three weeks aboard these British boat “cages” (literally floating prisons), and were sustained by the generosity of the French townspeople who brought food to the passengers and loaded it on board in a human chain. The crew of the Exodus and the residents of this little port witnessed a test of strength between the English and the French governments—and the unwavering will of the survivors—at a moment in history when Israel was on the brink of creation. France’s role and the remarkable solidarity of her citizens were instrumental to the goal of reaching Palestine. Among the most moving images in the film is the contemporary footage of a meeting between former passengers and the French townspeople who came to their aid.

From 2008 Festival: Director, France Jean-Michel Vecchiet is a child of Italian immigration and grew up in the South of France, a working class region where History left its footstep. He first showed his artistic skills through painting and drawing but in the meanwhile did not forget the history of those "boats-cages" and passengers of the Exodus who haunted his childhood. As a director, he gets his inspiration from art («Vies et morts de Andy Warhol» – 2005) and contemporary History («Un siècle d’Humanité» – France2/ France5 ; «Les photographes de Mao» – France 3/ France 5 ; «Les enfants d’Aléria» – France3 ; «Peter Lindbergh» – France 3…). Jean-Michel Vecchiet's films have been broadcasted in fifty countries. Documentaries : 2007 : Nous étions l’Exodus - France 2 2007 : A.Warhol « l’oeuvre incarnée » - France 5 FTD 2006 : Stromboli : Mythes et légendes – Cinéma Auteur 2005 : Vies et morts de Andy Warhol - France 3 - FTD 2004 : Un siècle d’humanité - France 2 et France 5 - FTD 2003 : Les photographes de Mao – France 2 et France 5 – RTBF – TV5Monde 2001 : Peter Lindbergh, journal de voyage starring N.Kinski, I.Huppert, M.Jovowitch-France 3 - FTD 2001 : Pour une Palme d’or…la glace et le feu, a documentary on feature film Dancer in the Dark - France 3 2000 : Les Enfants d’Aleria – France 3 1999 : Je t’aime, je te filme starring Annouck Grimberg, Anna Karina, Isabella Rosselini, Helmut Berger – Arte 1998 : 27, Piazza Castello starring Helmut Newton, B.Weber, S.Meisel – Paris Première, Canal+ International 1997 : Peter Lindbergh, un portrait – Paris Première 1997 : André Villers, mille et un portraits – Paris Première 1997 : Marc Riboud, l’homme qui marche – Paris Première