The Crab Season

Directed by Martin Benoist

From March to November, Christophe Leboucher hikes to the foot of the cliffs of Etretat at ebb tide. With his neon plastic case and bamboo stick, he goes fishing “by hand,” an activity that he has been practicing here since childhood. He knows where the crabs and lobsters nest and does not hesitate to rush into narrow crevices lined with algae, to crawl in channels submerged in sea water or to disappear in rocky cavities full of sharp flint. Christophe is profoundly visually impaired. His relationship to the landscape and the elements, and his approach to fishing, is notably different from those who approach the environment first with their eyes.