The Mohican (Le Mohican)

The French film premiered in the official Orizzonti Extra section of the Venice Film Festival, competed in the Official Competition of Stockholm Film Festival, was the closing film of Montpellier Festival, and was also screened at the Cinemania Festival in Montreal. In Greece, it was presented at Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where it received the Fischer Audience Award – Meet the Neighbors+.

Cast: Alexis Manenti and emerging actress Mara Taquin.

Synopsis: Joseph, one of the last goat herders in Corsica, receives a visit from the mafia, who want to seize his land for tourism development. Despite their threats, he refuses to yield. His life is in danger, and during a confrontation, he unintentionally kills the man threatening him. Forced to flee, Joseph becomes a fugitive on his own island, hunted by the mafia seeking revenge. The manhunt unfolds in the heat of summer in northern Corsica, as Joseph seeks help to survive. As the days pass, word of his actions spreads, thanks to his niece Vannina, and locals begin to hail him as a hero of resistance against the island’s exploitation.

Corsican-born Frédéric Farucci impresses with his restrained, sharply focused storytelling that flirts with both genre cinema and documentary realism. He makes masterful use of the sun-drenched island landscape to craft a neo-Western with clear political undertones, while simultaneously drawing an existential portrait of a solitary man standing against a ruthless new era, choosing to live by his own moral code until the very end.

Director’s Note:
“In 2017, I made a documentary about a shepherd working along the southern coast of Corsica. He was deeply troubled, as his goats grazed on land that others intended to develop into golf courses, hotels, or luxury villas; projects that would transform the terrain into uniform private estates, attracting the wealthy during the summer months and turning the area into a ghost town in winter. He saw himself as an outsider in his own region, a sort of “last of the Mohicans,” and could already foresee the day, not far off, when someone would come to evict him by buying out his land. I feel that in Corsica, there exists a kind of frontier: a 300-metre coastal strip where cultures clash and land ownership becomes the central stake. I often think of my home island as the backdrop to a modern western, where outlaws rule and rights seem non-existent, the law unenforced. That is why it felt natural for me to embrace this genre: a visually powerful way to explore a situation that extends far beyond Corsica’s shores.”

With Greek and English subtitles.

Duration: 87'
Tickets: €8