THE MASTURBATOR – THE ADVENTURES OF EDGAR HILSENRATH
An animated documentary film by François-Xavier Destors – Solent Productions & Saule Productions (Fr.) , Ma.ja.de. (Germ.), Les Films de la Mémoire (Bel.) – ARTE SWR, Bip TV – 2026
DOK Leipzig 2026, Positions
Official selection Pitch Art & Culture, Sunny side of the doc 2024
The Masturbator: The Adventures of Edgar Hilsenrath is a hybrid animated documentary that delves into the satirical world of Edgar Hilsenrath, the first German-Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor who dared to laugh at the worst.
VRBANJA, THE ASSAULT FOR DIGNITY
A documentary film by Benjamin Poincenet – Saule Productions – ICI Bretagne France TV – in coproduction with Pictanovo, Telo Martius productions – 2026
Prix Schoendoerffer for best documentary
On May 27, 1995, Serbian forces disguised as UN peacekeepers took French soldiers hostage on the Vrbanja Bridge at the gates of Sarajevo. If the bridge fell, the Serbs could capture the Bosnian capital, which had been under siege for more than three years. Despite the UN mandate prohibiting them from using force, the French peacekeepers decided to retake the bridge. Thirty years later, they look back on an act of defiance and daring that marked a turning point in the Bosnian War.
A short fiction film by Gaël Kamilindi – Saule Productions & Adok Films – France 2, RTS – with support from the OFC, Cinéforom (CNC), and Pictanovo – 2026
Berlinale – TEDDY AWARD for Best Short Film; Cabourg Film Festival – Best Short Film Award
Cartagena International Film Festival, New Directors / New Films!, IndieLisboa, Vienna Shorts, Frameline San Francisco…
Unable to make his film, a director reimagines its scenes elsewhere, with a different actor. As they search for themselves, filmmaking becomes an act of love and intimate, poetic resistance.
AFTER THE SEA, CHARLEVILLE-MÉZIÈRES
A documentary film by Élodie Sylvain – Saule Productions – France 3 Grand-Est – with support from the CNC, the Grand Est region, and Pictanovo – 2025
Fodé, Djibala, Mohsen, and their friends arrived in Charleville-Mézières as minors. After the Sea reveals their life stories, shaped as much by exile as by the solidarity shown by those fighting alongside them to help them integrate. Some have seen their lives turned upside down by the Order to Leave French Territory (OQTF); others have been granted refugee status or French citizenship. This documentary gives them a voice and demonstrates, through their successes and hopes, the possibility of living together in harmony.
A documentary film by Benjamin Poincenet and François-Xavier Destors – 2024 – Produced by Ellis Films & Saule Productions – Wéo, Pictanovo – 52’ / 70′
FIGRA 2024 – Audience Award
Sent as reinforcements to rescue his comrades trapped in the Uzbin ambush in Afghanistan in 2008, Benjamin has lived with invisible wounds ever since leaving the army. Fifteen years later, he sets out to meet his former brothers in arms to give a voice to those who, like him, did not return unscathed from the war in Afghanistan.
