The Last Shore
Fall Grants 2024 - Post-Production Stage
Jean-François Ravagnan / Feature Documentary / Belgium, France, Qatar / 2025 / 71 min / Original Language: Fulah / Interests: Social Issues, Immigration, Creative Documentary
Synopsis
In January 2017, a video of a young Gambian man drowning in Venice’s Grand Canal went viral on social media. From the shore, passers-by shouted insults at him, offering no help. He was 22 years old, and his name was Pateh Sabally. Today, 4,000 miles away, the voices and faces of those who loved him recount the story that led to this tragedy—the story behind the images.
Credits
- Director
- Jean-François Ravagnan
- Screenwriter
- Jean-François Ravagnan
- Producer
- Julie Frères
- Production Company
- Dérives, Michigan Films, Wallonie Image Production, Sténopé, Les Films d’Ici
About the Director
Originally from Belgium, Jean-François Ravagnan was trained at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Since 2007, he has worked as a first and second assistant director on about twenty films, notably those of Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. In 2015, he directed his first short fiction film, ‘Renaître’. Shot between Brussels and Tunis, the film was selected for the 68th Locarno Film Festival and won awards at several international festivals. Since 2018, Jean-François Ravagnan has been working on his first feature-length documentary, partly shot in Gambia and entitled ‘The Last Shore’.