Experiencing Interruptions?

Following Albert

I never knew Albert Balay, my paternal grandfather. Nor did my father. I never had the full story of Albert's disappearance, only fragments of stories and anecdotes that eventually settled on me: gendarme in the Resistance, tortured, deported, died in deportation... certainties and unknowns intertwined.

I made this film to put together the fragments of the story, reconstruct the puzzle and get as close as possible to the truth. Passing on a story doesn't just mean giving a detailed account of the facts, or showing photographs with incomplete captions. Transmission requires something more substantial and accomplished. It's a journey we need to embark on together.

  • Stéphan Balay
    Director
    Vitis prohibita
  • Stéphan Balay
    Producer
    Vitis prohibita
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Dans la Lumière d'Albert
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 21 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Country of Filming:
    Austria, France, Germany, Poland
  • Language:
    English, French, German
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16/9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Association Lumière du Jour
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Stéphan Balay

Following a guiding principle, "resist", Stéphan Balay highlights commitment, difference and diversity.

Among his films

- ANDRÉ MENRAS' VIETNAMS, 60 YEARS FROM WAR TO PEACE
documentary in production, 90 minutes, 2024, Lumière du Jour, France.

- THE ODYSEE OF FORBIDDEN WINES
documentary in production, 90 minutes, 2024, Grape Sleuth & Lumière du Jour, USA - France.

- FOLLOWING ALBERT
documentary, 101 minutes, 2023, Lumière du Jour, France.

- VITIS PROHIBITA
documentary, 91 minutes, 2019, Lumière du Jour, France.
BEST FEATURE FILM Festival International de la Vigne et du Vin - Oenovidéo - Marseille FRANCE - 2019
BEST DIRECTOR Alive Documentary Film Festival - Los Angeles USA - 2019
GRAND PRIX DU JURY Most Festival International du Cinéma du Vin et du Cava - Vilafranca del Penedès - Barcelone SPAIN - 2019
BEST FEATURE FILM PRODUCTION Five Continents International Film Festival - Venezuela - dec 2019.

- LIKE TIGHTROPE WALKERS
documentary, 110 minutes, 2016, Hors Champ Video & Lumière du Jour, France.

- WATER, SALT, LIFE, SOLIDARITY TRIP TO NIGER
documentary, 60 minutes, 2006, L'ami du Vent, France.

- PETIT À PETIT, FIRST YEAR OF KINDERGARTEN
documentary, 52 minutes, 2005, France Télévisions, France.

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Director Statement

Documentary is both a projection of everyday life and a way of escaping from it.