French filmmaker Robin Campillo takes a more personal approach with his latest film, Red Island. Here, he brings us to his childhood on a French military base in Madagascar in the early-1970s, just over a decade after the Malagasy Republic officially gained independence from France. While this context is, of course, fundamental to understanding what happens in Campillo’s new historical drama, the director offers us an entry-point by way of its protagonist, 10-year-old Thomas (Charlie Vauselle). It’s through Thomas’ young eyes which has both advantages and disadvantages that we bear witness to a time of great change and grief, and even greater anger.
