CGI animation, 14 min
The History of France in 3D is an essay on the mythologies of French modernity. To the sound of a catchy, even epic, synthetic musical score, we follow the path of a TGV through a country-continent, France. The signifiers of a caricatured and touristy Frenchiness are scattered along this high-speed route: we cross the Roquefort sea, we go along the Pyla dune, we pass in front of discount malls covered with neon "SALE" signs, we pass under clouds of fleur-de-lys flowers and croissants, under the Arc de Triomphe, and near the Eiffel Tower. Onboard, Roland Barthes, Jules Michelet, Juliette Foucault, and Christopher Columbus are in conversation, figures of great discoveries, the national narrative, and modernity. All that's missing is the Futuroscope to complete this ironic picture of a country torn between the weight of its history and a fantasized modernity. • Jill Gasparina, Frog