Pascale Hannoyer

Igor is 33 years old, he has been living for 5 years in a converted truck in his native Vosges. His ambition is to be self-sufficient thanks to his vegetable garden and the few bargains he makes at night in the garbage cans of DIY hypermarkets. Anticonsumerist, respectful of nature and of the people he lives with, Igor is a pure heart. Very attached to his freedom, he does not militate. But sometimes, he would like to share his existence with others, sometimes he thinks about the future...

Ayi comes from a rural area of Eastern China and doesn’t have the residential permit that would allow her to work in Shanghai. Yet, she has been cooking in the streets for twenty years, in an old neighbourhood soon to be demolished. The film unveils the chaos of an ultra-modern city aiming to wipe out so-called substandard practices and to deport an unwanted population.

The poetic and political portrait of a working-class suburb undergoing transformation, "De Cendres et de Braises" invites us to listen to the words of the inhabitants of the Mureaux housing project, near the Renault-Flins factory. Whether they are gentle, rebellious, or sung at the foot of the project's tower blocks, at the factory entrance, or beside a fire, these words take us through the night until a new day rises.

Sacha, 12, is a solo figure skater. He could become a champion but the only thing he has in mind is dancing on the ice with Rebecca.