L’Appel des chantiers | La Traversée + Au Boat Café

Introduction

The L’Appel des chantiers festival returns for its 8th edition on October 23, 24, and 25, 2026!

Organized by the association “Les chantiers du réel,” made up of students from Marseille’s documentary master’s program, the festival aims to screen, champion, and foster discussion around creative documentary works.

This edition’s program includes: – 15 films screened in the presence of their directors; – an opening night at the Saint-Charles faculty with a special guest, a filmmaker and former student of the documentary master’s program, who will present his latest film; – and a weekend of screenings at Videodrome 2, on Cours Julien!

This year, we are showcasing films by emerging filmmakers, students or graduates of the documentary master’s program, students from other film schools, or filmmakers who have self-produced their films, as well as films by two Tunisian filmmakers from the ISAMM school in Tunis.

La Traversée

by Khadija Zammouli | 2026 | Tunisia, France | 21 min | English subtitles

Shot in 2025, this short film delves into the heart of Rue de la République in Marseille, juxtaposing its transformation since 2004 with images of today. The camera captures the neighborhood’s transformation, caught between renovation and the erasure of popular memory. Protests in support of Palestine also weave through the film, crossing and reactivating this urban space in the midst of reconstruction. The street becomes an uncertain place where erasure and struggle meet. Between what is erased and what resists, we search for our place in the frame.

Au Boat Café

by Lys Tassin and Lucie Leger | 2026 | France | 24 min

At the end of the beach, opposite the port of Pointe Rouge, there’s a bar: The Boat Café. Inside, time and space expand; men play coinche, others sip martinis leaning against the bar, and Bert bets on horses. At the Boat Café, no one is ever truly alone.

Practical information

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Pay what you can; no membership required.

The box office opens 30 minutes before each screening.

We operate on a pay-what-you-can basis (everyone pays what they want/can/think is fair). We believe pay-what-you-can pricing allows everyone to experience the things that interest them and to value the work accomplished as they see fit.

Festival screenings