Ladies and gentlemen, this stop is Reims.
Next stop, Reims.
Although based on real events,
the characters and situations portrayed in this film are fictional.
Nevertheless, resemblance to actual persons or events is no coincidence.
Lucie, I got the medical expert's report.
I hadn't mentioned it,
it's pretty shocking.
Talk of so-called "genetic antecedents".
So it's a negative opinion?
Yes, it's negative.
Expect them to be very aggressive in court.
Which means they're desperate, a good sign.
You have a solid case.
We have proof of Margot's work-related disease.
Are your friends here?
Yes.
I called volunteers and group members.
It's a good showing.
That's very good. And very important.
Puts pressure on the judges.
The lymphoma that took Margot's life was included this year
on the list of work-related diseases.
What's more,
the scientific literature clearly links that cancer
with repeated, prolonged exposure to Tetrazine, which, alas,
was Margot Tauran's case.
This pesticide
was officially designated by the W.H.O.,
four years ago,
as a potential carcinogen.
Lastly, a word about the committee members
who rendered this negative opinion.
Of three doctors chosen to judge blood cancer,
we have a pulmonologist...
and an employee of the insurance company
slated to indemnify my client.
That can only be called a flagrant
conflict of interest.
In a case so grave,
so serious and painful as this,
given the death of a young woman,
her partner's solitude and grief,
we have a right to expect a much less dubious panel.
Wouldn't you agree?
Your Honor,
the insurance company I represent feels that such a serious case
deserves better than rhetoric.
We are also shocked by Counsel's suspicious attitude
and his conspiracy-minded innuendo.
So we live in a banana republic?
Well no.
The company merely applies the law,
relying on scientific observations.
And those observations lead us to contest
the causal relationship between Tetrazine exposure
and Margot Tauran's illness.
These are the facts.
Family antecedents have been established
by an independent expertise.
The same cancer took the life of Margot Tauran's uncle.
Please be silent.
You're right. Yes...
Margot's uncle was a farmer, too,
and he, too, died of cancer. Because he, too,
was exposed to pesticides his whole life.
Heredity has nothing to do with it. Nothing.
Margot and her uncle both had life-long contact to poison.
That's reality.
I'd like to add one point.
- You've said a lot. - Just one point.
This year
in France,
three times,
in three regions, far from one another,
spraying
of this carcinogenic pesticide
caused 184 cases of intoxication, of which 61
led to hospitalization.
So in two of those regions, the Prefect
quite rightly and very simply banned Tetrazine for several weeks.
Now I ask you,
is it so hard to exercise common sense?
Is it so hard to be responsible?
Is it so hard to be honest?
Thank you.
But the use of this product is strictly defined by the manufacturer.
"Apply under plastic sheeting, water to bind molecule to the ground."
So who isn't being responsible and honest, Counselor?
In the regions to which you refer,
did the users follow these guidelines?
Thank you, Your Honor.
Ma'am, would you like to speak?
Yes.
We use pesticides.
We have to.
To maintain our crop yield, to get by.
I don't know who's in charge, or what to call them.
But if they had told us...
if there was a clear warning on the product,
we wouldn't have used it.
Or not in the same way.
And Margot is gone...
because of that.
And...
Thank you.
The court is in recess for deliberation.
...the shocking scandal around methods of mining cobalt
a component of electric batteries.
Most of the world's supply originates in southern Congo.
Spiraling cobalt prices attracted nearly 200,000 undocumented miners,
known as "diggers".
Children with only pickaxes and shovels, they work without protection,
in poorly ventilated tunnels, and are paid 2 euros per day.
For how long will children pay, with their health and lives,
for the electric power industry?
How long can we look away?
Stop exploiting children in Africa
There.
If you like it, we take it viral tomorrow on social media.
It's good. It's better.
More focused on the kids' faces, the risk they take.
The rest is extraneous.
This version is good. We greenlight it?
Did you find a segue for later?
Yes. I'll use the Tokyo example.
Hammer home the years of practice, the new diesel engines,
then finish on the Kyoto Protocol. I think that's enough.
About the Tetrazine report,
everyone will be there.
I booked the whole hotel.
You just make a brief opening statement. Here's the latest draft.
Seriously...
- Za nas! - Nostrovia!
Let's go, bring up the rear!
Nael! Ewan! Close up the ranks!
You're over ten minutes!
Place your shoulders over the line,
eyes straight ahead.
Why should we properly set the starting blocks?
So you start out straight ahead,
and so better time.
Problem, Quentin?
This is useless. No one's going to the Olympics.
- Pack it up. - Watch your tone!
Apologize.
- I'm waiting, Quentin. - I'm out of here.
Quentin, stay here.
First six, on the blocks. Show them, I'll be right back.
- Come back please. - Get off!
What's wrong with you? Settle down!
I advise you to apologize, Quentin.
I'm sorry.
Going to expel me?
Sure, what else?
I turn you in, you get thrown out.
Then you go to prison.
In there, the hoods will train you good.
Then you'll come back and blow us all away.
Take a breath, then come back.
You're not going to the Olympics.
I agree. What's the use of knowing how to set a block?
But I'm the teacher here.
So try it.
We're waiting for you.
Come on, Quentin, stop sulking!
- Hi. - Hi. Have a good shift.
Good night!
Delivery, platform 46.
Article 313, aisle 29,
number 5529.
Thank you.
All right.
To the merchants of doubt.
Becoming a dad is life's best gift.
Mine are grown now.
But I remember every detail.
All that happiness.
When I met Charlène, she'd just had Camille.
With her idiot husband.
She was destroyed. He had destroyed her.
That's when I met her.
Then she rebounded, created her collections.
And when I think, now we're having a baby.
Ours.
That we made it.
It seems pretty magical, you know?
We all catch a break in life.
Charlène is yours.
- Thought of moving them to Brussels? - No.
Charlène's company is in Paris.
And the schools are better, for Camille.
We're together for the good stuff. Weekends.
We enjoy it.
Is it me or is this a pick-up bar?
No, you're right.
- I think so. - So do I.
My wife is my lucky break. Now let's go to a hooker joint.
- You got it. - Great.
Very logical.
The task of Mrs. Baradeau's lab
is to tally the congenital anomalies in your region
in order to inform authorities.
A few weeks ago, that lab released a study
concerning the last ten years,
finding in your region
a cluster
of babies born without arms
or with other malformations.
The National Institute and the region reacted
by canceling the lab's funding
and now Mrs. Baradeau has been fired.
Excuse me.
Just... why do that?
If the funding's gone,
so is the lab and the report.
If the report is gone, officially there is no problem.
No more malformations, nothing.
Break the thermometer, hide the fever.
Our study clearly finds
that this region's malformation rate is 58 times higher
than the national average.
These are not genetic defects.
Neither are they linked to medicines
or drugs, used by mothers.
What is it?
It's Tetrazine?
The concentration of cases is not coincidence,
and is probably due to exposure to a teratogen,
meaning an agent
common to all the mothers,
which caused the fetal deformations.
So a substance
used in farming is possible.
Like a pesticide.
Of course it's Tetrazine!
They cut the funding because authorization of that shit
is up for renewal in Europe this year.
Their only goal is that renewal.
Your study just got in their way.
And it goes even farther.
Look. In your region,
certain streams
have been wiped from the map.
You knew that.
Why?
In exchange for accords and lots of money,
commercial interests managed to erase them from official maps.
To avoid the duty to protect them
from their pesticides.
If we want to avert catastrophe,
it's zero pesticide. Zero!
You must fight them.
On blue summer evenings, along a trail
Flecked with wheat, upon soft grass I tread...
Come on, nice and tall.
Yes. Taller.
Stay up! Great!
Come on, darling!
Great, Coline.
You want it all? You're hungry?
No, I'm eating it!
Stop! That's my sandwich!
You're the sandwich. Look!
Here.
Dad, stop!
I tried calling yesterday.
Lucie, I'm so sorry. Margot's disease wasn't recognized.
But...
Yeah.
We'll fight on, we'll file an appeal.
I'm out of money.
Don't worry. We'll work something out.
I have a court appearance. I'll call you back afterward.
Trust me, Lucie. We're going to win.
See you later.
One more question,
if I may, Mr. Secretary, about images seen around the world this week
of children, enslaved workers in Congolese cobalt mines.
Should we now reconsider
our conversion to all-electric vehicles?
Ms. Lapix, we take this issue very seriously.
Those children work in deplorable conditions.
We must find those responsible
and ban them from the industry.
But couldn't this be a trick?
Are these accusations leveled at electric cars designed to promote
diesel and gasoline, obviously more polluting?
We're always regulating pollutants of all kinds
to protect our environment.
But as the data evolves, we adapt.
For example, in Japan,
where they banned diesel 20 years prior, they've gone back to it.
And why is that, Mrs. Lapix?
Because based on years of real-world studies,
new diesel engines emit 20 percent less CO2
than gasoline engines.
That's a big difference to consider
when it comes to battling global warming,
as defined by the Kyoto Protocol.
Diesel is back!
Our Secretary was very good.
Thanks to Thomas Moore and the team!
Good messaging. Masterful.
I told you he'd be your best defender.
An exceptional spokesman!
- The best! - Thanks.
Thanks. We're not done!
The Greens will hit back soon.
We got a hold of their report.
Here's the title:
"43 Million Dirty Diesel Engines On European Roads".
There.
It'll make some noise, but we got it.
We're counting on you. Nice win!
Thanks for your trust.
Don't forget the Tetrazine report. With the minister, we'll need it.
Know the difference
between a good lawyer and a great one?
No, you don't.
A good lawyer knows the law.
A great one knows the judge. In this case,
I'm the great lawyer.
I decide who fucks me, so pull up your shorts!
Seriously.
Typical asshole lawyer,
arrogant, greedy.
In this case I knew the judge, so I won, but...
we live in a crazy world.
I won that case, but I lost another.
I'm sort of flying blind right now.
Anyway, that's all.
So how are you?
I'm moving to the south.
I'm happy for you.
- Your mind's made up? - Yeah.
It's what I want.
I won't stay a year too many.
I want to go, with no bitterness.
Will you quit the AFP?
No, I'll keep my job.
I'll commute, that's all.
Come to Paris 1 or 2 days a week. Others do it.
And when do you move?
I'm off to New York for an article. But I've listed my apartment.
However long it takes.
Stop.
Mr. Secretary, Senators,
thank you all for accepting our invitation,
and for joining us in this Normandy paradise,
far from the Parisian hustle-bustle.
Let me take this opportunity
to heartily thank the Agriculture Secretary
for hearing us on the crucial issue
of defending pesticides, and especially Tetrazine.
Thanks also to Dennis,
who somehow managed to get senators of every stripe
into one room.
Before handing it over to him,
let me also thank Claude Delahaye
whom we all know now, architect of the report,
the best among us!
Thank you. Really. Sincerely.
Yes, our major evaluation report is now completed.
It will be broadly distributed
to all member states of the European Community,
to the appropriate European Commissioners
and to the media, in six months.
That is, just before the vote
for renewal of Tetrazine licensing.
Yes, Mr. Secretary, this is an important vote for our economy.
Important for preserving agricultural production, important
for maintaining jobs in the region.
I have no doubt, sir,
that our report will tip the scale.
The renewal of Tetrazine must be approved, sir.
Your support will be the key factor.
Our report shows with disarming simplicity
that groups which list this molecule as dangerous
aren't qualified to do so.
Turns out, their opinions are worthless.
What we say can be understood by a 5-year-old.
Tetrazine is less carcinogenic than candy he's allowed to eat,
and which isn't against the law.
That's all.
Enough talk, I'll let you enjoy your meal.
Whenever I see Christian's idiot face I want to deck him.
Before we left, I pissed in his jacket pockets
And left a gob of spit on his collar. Keep his hands and neck warm!
You're my hero.
You are my hero.
Sometimes
I think if I hadn't gotten sick,
you might've left.
Stop, Zef.
Our story is what it is.
And you're not sick anymore.
And it's freezing cold!
No!
Stay in the water! Stay in the water!
I'm waiting to drink.
I'm tossing the bouquet!
Wait! Let me move over there.
I'm throwing it now!
One, two, three...
Let's go.
Hi, this is Patrick Fameau's voice mail. Leave a message.
You'll hear this when you wake up.
You'll understand my act, or not.
In any case, I want to thank you.
For everything.
I had wonderful years with Margot.
We loved our work.
Happy birthday to you, Coline...
One!
Two! Three!
The presents! The presents!
Want some?
The farmer who killed herself...
It was because of Tetrazine.
I know.
You'll hear this when you wake up.
You'll understand my act, or not.
In any case, I wanted to thank you.
For everything.
I had wonderful years with Margot.
We loved our work.
We trusted our suppliers.
We worked hard. It's a hard life.
The uncertainty,
the constant debt.
The lack of recognition.
Then Margot and I, two women partners...
Margot was a simple, happy soul.
Proud to be a "modern farmer."
We were proud to be feeding people.
We thought we'd have a child.
But then she got sick.
Where I come from, like Margot, people die in silence.
I created an association to get people talking.
Three years later, it failed.
People talked, but no one listened.
I have no strength to go on.
I just want my words to be heard.
And for my name and Margot's not to be muddied.
Maybe now they will hear.
Maybe now they'll have to see.
These are the last words
that Lucie Tauran left on my voice mail.
In memory of Lucie, in Margot's name,
their parents asked me to file a complaint
seeking criminal indemnification
for false representation and poisoning.
They want to bring to light the dark cycle
of inhuman, unacceptable acts
that led to this tragedy.
Margot Tauran
was in contact,
for years,
with Tetrazine.
A harmless substance,
say its makers, but which the W.H.O. designated as a carcinogen.
It is still, unfortunately, permitted.
So how can one help but think
that these decisions
are guided by economic interests
outweighing justice
and public health?
Who so thoroughly mocks the value of human life?
Who killed my client?
Who?
Maintaining favorable market conditions must be the priority.
We're releasing
the all-new Alena Pro, Tetrazine its main ingredient.
The W.H.O. tackled us four years ago.
Then there was Covid, now this woman farmer's suicide.
We cannot abide further loss of market confidence.
We know our American competitor's fate
in a similar, badly-managed case.
A 45 percent capital loss,
stockholders running for the hills.
That can't happen to us.
Maintaining favorable market conditions
and the parliamentary vote are our priorities.
The Touran affair will be forgotten in due course.
We mustn't fuel the fire.
Avoid the media back-and-forth.
At least until the vote.
Two lesbian women, legally married.
- Can we work that? - No!
Don't touch it, we'd get hurt.
We just defuse it,
recenter the issue.
Lucie Tauran's very fragile psyche led her to suicide,
not the failed battle against Phytosanis.
Lucie took antidepressants well before Margot fell ill.
Daily pressures added to this, and, as for all farmers,
the overwhelming stress of directives issued by Brussels,
followed in France to the letter, even eagerly,
while other countries are much more lax.
That way, we turn the tables
as we indirectly shift pressure and responsibility to Brussels.
That should serve our number one priority,
the vote five months away.
We also have a press release ready
underscoring all the efforts
Phytosanis has made to equitably parse the situation.
Give us your input. We're handing it out.
Thank you.
We also have another problem.
8,000 people marched outside your home office.
That's not negligible.
But we know how to handle it. Our behavior analysis shows
we must absolutely avoid transferring value to Lucie Tauran.
She mustn't become the embodiment,
even temporarily, of crimes against nature,
of the green movement
and anti-free-market or anti-capitalist forces.
It took us months to muzzle the W.H.O.'s censure.
This will stir up some media and activist reaction.
So we reactivate our W.H.O. mapping.
Influencers, group-owned media,
favorable activists speaking up for high-yield agriculture,
And we'll introduce a media cell, using cyber-mobbing.
Trolls and bots will snuff out anti-Tetrazine comments,
clean up sites.
I have a list of scientists who may be helpful.
The idea is to put a respectable face on our counter-attack.
How much?
Depending on the profile, 1 to 2 million euros.
Copy me on this. I want to greenlight the name.
Yes, of course.
If I may, one more word about Tauran.
We looked into the lawyer, Patrick Fameau.
Brilliant early career, less purist. He hasn't always defended orphans.
A falling out with his main client.
His associates drop him, he shifts to criminal work.
No big wins, mundane stuff.
He moves to environmental law,
possibly opportunistically.
He got the Tauran case as a referral.
His practice is in debt.
He's stubborn. But he's fraying around the edges.
There.
Year N minus three.
You touch Phytosanis, you open Pandora's Box.
Their lobbyists have worked 3 years to discredit the W.H.O.,
waging an all-out campaign to destroy
all of their public health programs concerning Tetrazine.
They bashed W.H.O.'s philosophy
critiqued their budget management, their health priorities.
They marred the reputation of every key anti-Tetrazine player.
And it has worked.
The W.H.O. has been destabilized.
Your client's suicide comes amid that crossfire.
And hang on,
I found Phytosanis
keeps tabs on a hundred personalities ranked by their take on Tetrazine.
Among them, apparently, they track priority targets
with records on pesticides plus personal info.
And your name was added recently.
Your name, phone number, address, everything on you.
On their watchlist.
Which explains my tax audit.
Shit.
Be careful, they're dangerous.
How did you get that list?
Our health guy has good info. But no source, nothing on the record.
Here. The number for the ex-researcher you told me about.
- Richard Vanec. - Right.
Ex-top scientist at a German competitor of Phytosanis.
He was let go after a supposed "burnout".
He jumped to government research, retired,
then founded an NGO.
Now he does conferences, denouncing pesticides.
He respects his industry-wide non-disclosure agreement...
But he's always testing the limits.
Especially regarding Tetrazine.
Great. Thank you. Thanks a lot.
What do you think of all this?
Nothing. You ask for help, I help you.
I'm afraid for you. But I've stopped saying so.
And in the south, what do they think?
Truth or dare?
Truth!
- How's it feel to be 13? - Old!
Your turn! Truth or dare?
They need me back in Brussels, right away.
A meeting 2 hours from now.
Some complicated stuff to work out on Tetrazine.
I'm on the train now.
Camille will be sad.
I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to her.
So how are you?
I'm all right.
Can you hear the girls? They're having fun.
Good, I'm glad.
I'll put Camille on. Then Facetime me, I'll show you the room.
Hang on, doorbell.
Another guest for me!
Surprise!
- Mathias! - Happy birthday, hon.
- You came! - Of course.
- This is for you. - Gorgeous!
- And this is for you. - You're wonderful.
Look outside. There's something there for you.
Take a look.
- You always believe me? - Yeah.
Well? Is the color ok? I wasn't sure.
But... where are we going?
What? The Ariana Grande concert!
Ten tickets, you leave now!
- No way! - You still here?!
You're the best! Thank you!
My pleasure, darling.
We're gonna see Ariana Grande!
You're so good.
You've won your step-dad honors now.
I left it all on the field. No more until she's 18.
Mi, will you take them?
Keep an eye on them. One pint per child, max!
The chauffeur's going, too.
I have total confidence. Home by midnight.
Been planning this long?
I did prep the file.
- Thank you, Mathias! - You're welcome. Happy?
Yes!
- Anybody hate Ariana? - No!
Ariana Grande!
- Thanks, Mathias. - Have a really great time.
- See you later. - Yes.
- Bye girls! - We'll send selfies!
Yeah, be careful.
We need to start treatments again.
How long?
Zef, we can't go back in time.
We can't tell how the disease may develop.
What we know now is that isn't stable.
And that it's not in remission.
This type of lymphoma can now evolve slower or faster.
But we've got it in time.
We can slow it down.
Mr. Vanec, hello.
I'm Patrick Fameau, environmental attorney
I need five minutes.
I know who you are.
I can't speak to you. I mustn't.
I won't take long. Five minutes, tops!
I know about your NDA. I can respect those conditions.
Anything we say is between us, I assure you.
I'm leaving my card.
Call me, please.
I'm leaving it here, ok? Thanks!
What you say to me could help many people. They count on you.
So please, call me.
Very nice.
Shoulder out!
Too tense.
- Relax! - Fuck...
Ok, you see an opening, go down, ground.
That's it. Come on.
Hit, hit.
You're off balance! Leverage!
All right. Protect yourself. Look what's happening!
Ok, you got a lock there. That's it.
Diesel and other non-urgent files, we delegate.
We concentrate on Tauran.
It's getting big, I don't like it.
The scientist?
André Reeves, Québécois oncologist,
world-renowned.
Works on leading cancer publications.
Harvard University faculty member.
His Montreal lab is partly funded by Phytosanis.
He recently published a bestseller about health.
He'd appear in French media
with a few choice words on Tauran.
His deal is 1.1 mil, greenlighted by Phytosanis.
To publish in a major mag, and group-held publications?
No.
No, we need visuals.
Picked up everywhere. The net...
The Channel 3 "19/20" or the like.
Popular, but authoritative.
Know what? Let's not speak of Lucie Tauran.
Just generalities.
Farmers in distress, silently taking their own lives daily.
How no one cares, etc.
And we drown Tetrazine inside it.
For Tetrazine and derivatives, I never proved them carcinogenic,
Blah, blah, blah.
Here. The papers you asked for.
It's what everyone uses around here.
How do you explain that I'm not sick?
You're not either.
How is Zef?
I heard his cancer's back?
We asked for this 2 years ago, Christian.
I let it go because Zef was better.
But I shouldn't have.
What good will they do you?
We're putting together a file.
And your nail polish?
Your kid's lice powder.
Your insect repellant, your aspirin? That's all fine?
Going to make a file on those?
Stop pestering me, both of you.
Move, if my products make you sick!
Shut the fuck up!
Shut up!
We'd move if we could! Your crap made Zef sick!
You're still slinging bullshit!
Shut the fuck up!
Counselor. Thanks for coming.
No problem.
Shall we?
Hello.
Gentlemen. Who are you?
Public Affairs, for Phytosanis.
Mathias Rozen. Pleasure.
Pleasure...
A fellow attorney, you lured me into a trap.
You're here, just hear them out.
- Yeah, I'm here. - Something to drink?
No, thanks. I'm fine.
Don't worry, Mr. Fameau, we'll let you
confer with your colleague.
I admire your work and your commitment.
For me, personally,
I relate to your determination.
- Can I call you Patrick? - No. "Sir".
All right.
We just want to use this opportunity
to reaffirm that Tetrazine is safe,
non-carcinogenic, and farmers are well-informed.
- They know what they're doing... - No, they don't!
Because you lie to them.
This report on Tetrazine dispels many notions poisoning the debate.
Spare me your propaganda.
- Get to the point, Counselor. - Right.
A transaction could settle this.
A sizable indemnity for the family,
generous legal fees for you.
Perhaps even a future collaboration?
You can't win this case, you know that.
I don't know that at all.
I know you don't want to go to trial. Why?
Are you afraid?
Let's be constructive, open a dialogue.
There is no dialogue.
None at all.
My clients are determined to go all the way.
- And you, Patrick? - I said call me "sir"!
I will never deal behind my clients' back.
Never.
Look, sir, we didn't hope for an instant response today.
Only think it over.
Lucie Tauran's family has suffered, you know that very well.
Can they withstand another protracted losing legal case?
You know...
I've defended villains, true villains.
Swindlers and hoodlums, too.
And good people.
I've even accepted the kind of arrangement you offer today.
Then one day I defended a boss in a bankruptcy fraud case.
Lots of people got left out in the cold.
It got ugly.
There was a suicide.
Lives...
torn apart.
I won the case.
So that boss went right on up the ladder.
But then it occurred to me,
by not caring about anything at all,
perhaps I had a hand in all that suffering.
And I lost faith.
Well...
it turned into something like...
hope.
All this is to say, on the Tauran case, I'll go all the way.
Your tricks and low blows...
won't change much.
You seem sincere, sir.
I'm sure you're a good man.
I see that.
Your choice to pivot your career is very courageous.
It might surprise you, but I get what you're saying.
Because I share that hope.
Perhaps you can't hear that now. I get that, too.
But I'm not the boss laying people off.
Just the opposite. I share your hope
because I defend products that keep so many farmers solvent,
keep them afloat,
protect their dignity,
keep them from starving.
That's one reason we sought you out...
Sir.
Fine.
On another score, we learned of your financial troubles.
Both personal and your firm.
And someone mentioned a tax audit,
to boot?
- Accepting our offer... - Ok, that's enough!
I'm an officer of the court.
You can't trample, bribe, or threaten me.
You can't! Is that clear?
People died, I'm suing those responsible.
Want me to name you too? Want me to?
Do you?
I think we've said enough.
Go fuck yourselves.
We can't locate test data for these products.
We tried the Dept. of Agriculture, we wrote the European Health Office.
All you got was outsourcing blackmail.
And a warning about bio-invasive threats.
- Right. Which is why... - No, excuse me.
Excuse me, but stop.
First, don't bother kissing and embracing me
because Zef is sick again.
He's sick because of Christian,
who's spread his shit for years
on our fields, houses and people.
The only thing Zef did wrong was breathe his neighbor's poison.
Everyone knows it, no one says a word.
I see them shaking Christian's hand, laughing with him.
Same goes for the cooperative, re-selling that crap!
Not one of you will lift a finger!
- Are you afraid? - You're not objective, France.
He's not to blame, he's a victim.
What?!
You say that to my face?!
All your fancy talk when Covid started.
"We're going to change things now." Nothing has happened!
Nothing!
We're losing!
We lost, it's over!
We demonstrate.
Meanwhile, those responsible laugh their heads off!
They do what they want. They spray right outside our windows!
Right up to where we live!
And as for us,
we keep our mouths shut, glad to read about bio-invasive threats.
It's meaningless! Can't you see?
It's all lies! It's them playing for time!
And we are dying. We're fucking dying!
So is Zef!
Because of them and our silence.
Mine, sure. Also yours, yours, yours, yours and yours!
It's useless to hand out leaflets, sign petitions.
- It's a waste of time! - Don't leave.
This is Richard Vanec's voice mail...
Don't call me.
Why?
I fly to Milan tomorrow at 9:40, out of Orly.
Excuse me, thanks.
Hello, Mr. Vanec.
Sorry, but I've been followed, had my phone tapped.
Could you remove the battery?
No.
Hang on.
I've endured so much
since I spoke out about armless babies.
And I toed the line, speaking only of Chlordecone
which, despite the scandal,
is prohibited.
I got called to account, at my age.
My non-disclosure agreement was expanded.
I'm no longer allowed to speak of Tetrazine.
I'll never work for their side again.
I'd rather be poor and honest than rich and dishonest.
For 15 years, I've spoken, here and there,
trying to make up
for the evil I did with my science,
trying never to violate my NDA.
There are...
these babies without arms.
Of course it's Tetrazine.
I saw your press conference.
I admire your determination.
Thanks.
You have to retrace the history of agriculture,
which has always rewarded success
by increasing volume, rather than diversity.
We've gotten rid of humans.
Too costly.
And replaced them with deadly poison.
You have to consider the chemical industry, too.
Since the early 50's.
BetaMax, Glyphosate, Captan, Dithianon,
Ethoxiquine, all prohibited
but still found in some pesticides. And even...
including "2 4-D", "Agent Orange" of Vietnam,
when U.S. troops massively defoliated the jungle
to expose the enemy.
Who invented that defoliant? And why?
Why is it still used? We know it kills.
Ask them about mutagens,
about A.D.I. standards. Who votes on those?
Who changes them? Why?
How does that relate to Bisphenol A?
What about Aspartame?
Think about it, dig around. It's all of the same origin.
They'll say such-and-such pesticide is within safety limits.
Fine. Then ask them about...
carcinogenic pesticide cocktails.
The same companies sell related medicines.
The windfall is tenfold!
Compare industry reports with politicians' reports.
The words, the turns of phrase,
exactly the same!
The tainted blood scandal
was a joke in comparison! Listen. Despite the W.H.O. report,
Tetrazine will never be prohibited. Never!
Fine, but...
do you have any proof
that firms know it's dangerous?
Of course, the manufacturers have proof.
They know what they're selling.
But that proof is buried deep in a vault.
No one has access to it.
Can you imagine if it got out?
They'd be ruined.
Your battle can't be limited to the Tauran case.
It must be the case of everyone.
Questioning Tetrazine
isn't just attacking the chemical industry.
It's diverting the sector from its goal.
Combined sales of 30 percent pesticides
and seventy percent growing the GMO's
that can tolerate them.
Beyond pesticides, the industry seeks,
with these GMO's,
to bring food resources under their control.
You disturb them precisely when they embark on their greatest endeavor.
To possess of the living.
They're privatizing nature.
Place your phone in the box.
No phones at the meeting.
These people spent millions
to skew studies, whitewash products,
destroy the credibility of independent scientists,
to infiltrate the European Commission,
so they participate in decisions concerning their own products.
This can't last.
As a result, the phenomenon of birth defects is found all over.
There are recent clusters in France.
As well as in Belgium, Germany, the United States, England.
And those people accuse us of "agri-bashing",
say we're anti-farmer,
say we want them dead. No!
We just want clean water,
clean air,
healthy food, healthy body and healthy earth.
We're here to protest, loud and clear, a system
which would lead farmers, men and women,
and our whole society
to disaster.
If we want to change the system, we must oppose
destroyers of life.
We must offer a new society.
We don't like this one? Fine!
Then we practice civil disobedience.
We are merely committed citizens.
Men and women of earth.
We're willing to face the conflict.
We're not about moderation.
So our upcoming actions
will include getting beaten, and going to jail if we have to.
Everything I say now
you must tell no one else.
Now,
stand up please.
Ok. If you can go to jail, stand on my right.
If not, on my left.
I'd like to speak to you of truth and lies,
of justice and injustice.
Of life and death.
Patrick Fameau, Environmental Rights Lawyer
Our health and our children are in danger.
Some know this, and lie. Deliberately.
We're told food grown with insecticides, fungicides, herbicides,
pesticides, isn't dangerous.
That's false. False.
The reality is that in 20 years,
1 European out of 3
will get some form of environmental cancer.
1 out of 2 men, 1 out of 3 women.
The reality is our country
is among the world's top pesticide users.
The reality is that we consume, unawares, 36 pesticides per day.
The reality is my client died because of those pesticides.
Alas, like many, many others.
I seek the truth, no more or less.
That's why I'm taking legal action against Phytosanis
for poisoning.
I need you.
Your statements.
With your help, I believe justice
will heed all of these facts.
There.
Already 542,000 views, and he got 4 talk show invites.
It's about the vote. We must squash Fameau.
We troll harder on social media.
Get to work.
Fameau settles with Phytosanis, behind clients' back
Those bastards.
Secret meeting with Phytosanis: the meeting Fameau wants to hide!
The deal with Phytosanis.
YOU WILL DIE LIKE HER!
Argentine Ecologist Tortured, Killed
Maya Arguero's body found near Claromecó
PRIVATE CALLER
Hello
Yes? Who is this?
Got our email about the Argentine activist?
That could be you. Or somebody close.
Excuse me...
What is this, a threat?
Think it over, Fameau.
Yet I won't forget the tragedy of all these farmers,
taking their own lives in silence, and no one cares,
because they can't break even.
I feel we must be able to hear their cries of distress.
In France,
a farmer commits suicide every other day.
That's a lot!
That's sad!
That's horrible.
Now,
sticking to my specialty,
the only issue I can speak to
is the level of danger posed by the product.
I've worked for years on Tetrazine and its derivatives.
What I can assure you,
is that I could never prove them to be carcinogens.
Tetrazine is less carcinogenic than candy we give to children,
which isn't prohibited.
Demonizing on principle is senseless.
Phytosanitary products are helpful in growing food.
They are necessary
to ensure production levels.
Thank you, Prof. Reeves.
The title of your book
is "Believing Medicine, Ecologist Lies About Health and Science".
That's very funny!
That's very amusing.
Well I hope I scored some points for you.
No doubt. You were perfect.
To your health, Professor.
Good evening.
Hello.
That's good.
Wait a second.
You're the independent scientist on the news!
Dining with "Better World" lobbyists?
Who work for oil, nuclear and agrochemical giants?
For Phytosanis, which makes Tetrazine.
- Funny! - Yes, very.
You're ridiculous. Could we please eat dinner in peace?
What is this? Lower that phone.
Smile, it's for social media.
- Live! - But this is private.
- Stop filming. - Calm down.
I'm very calm.
- Settle down! - Sir!
Stop that. Let him go!
- Out! - People have a right to know!
We're within our rights.
Got it! Thanks, Phytosanis! And nice going!
Let's go, retreat!
Assholes!
Those three!
France, with me. See you later!
Give me the phone!
To the right.
Stop them!
Your eye ok?
I don't know. I can't feel a thing.
Of course we press charges! The way they barged in!
I even thought they might be armed.
Yeah, I got it.
I got it, I'll look.
Talk to you later.
I got the video, it's viral.
Oh shit.
Could this affect the vote?
It's not a good look for us.
In substance, it's not great. But we can handle it.
And for you?
Just humiliating.
You're the independent scientist on the news!
Dining with "Better World" lobbyists?
Who work for oil, nuclear and agrochemical giants?
For Phytosanis, which makes Tetrazine.
That's all I really wanted.
Not really the same world, but I liked it.
That's what counts.
Stop it!
Help!
Please!
Help!
You're a champion!
See? You did it? Try alone?
- Yes. - Go ahead.
I think in the moment you go
you think only of the people you loved.
Those moments of bliss,
and of joy that we've known.
It must be only about feelings, right?
What could you do with me, that we haven't done yet?
Learn to dance the rock and roll.
But not just any rock and roll.
A really acrobatic one, a little sensuous, a little...
A little classy, lots of technique.
And, whenever we get a chance,
with friends, family, at weddings, boom, we whip it out.
- How are you? - Hello.
Everyone says it's a lost cause.
That's wrong. Don't believe what people say.
I have a boatload of affidavits.
An ex-scientist gave me leads that can
Now a lawsuit takes a long time, I know.
It's long and tedious, but I ask you to bear with me.
And trust me.
People from Phytosanis came to see us.
They made us a financial offer.
We said yes.
- Did you sign something? - Sir, we've thought it over.
We think this is going nowhere.
Anyway,
it will never bring our Margot back, or her partner.
At least Phytosanis will pony up.
Just tell me, have you signed something?
You believe what they say about me?
That I made deals behind your back with Phytosanis?
That I'm an incompetent drunk?
Even that this is just self-promotion. Believe that?
Or you just giving up?
You know... I get threats every day.
Every day. Specific ones.
My ex got jumped in the street, recently.
They beat her up.
But all that is for naught, because...
you've given them what they need to quash this. Permanently.
They won.
We're sorry.
How much?
Three hundred thousand.
I'm the one who's sorry.
For you, for...
Margot, for Lucie...
I was very moved by your family...
but I couldn't convince you we might win.
Well...
But when you think back about this,
never tell yourself you had no choice. You had a choice.
You took the money.
How do you feel?
Better and better.
Don't be mad,
I can't make it by today. I really have no time.
Are you mad?
No, it's just as well.
You've come every day for 3 weeks. My boyfriend's getting jealous.
What will you do now?
What will I do?
Nothing. There's nothing left to do.
They hit you,
they bought the parents off. That's it.
It's all over.
I lost.
I'm not strong enough.
That's all there is to it.
I'm afraid, Audrey. I'm afraid.
I changed my locks, can you imagine?
You're 10 years behind!
French farmers changed their practices
according to the Ecophyto Plan. They're trying even harder
since the Covid crisis.
Yet they're hated!
They feel unloved!
French farmers eliminated 87 percent of toxic chemicals. Glyphosate
and Tetrazine aren't listed.
Bad numbers!
The truth is that the curve of pesticide use has risen steadily
since 2008.
Spray applications are up three percent,
near 9 percent for seed coating.
On average, apples receive pesticides
34 times before being sold.
Tomatoes 12 times, champagne grapes 19!
Potatoes 18 times! This has to stop.
Growing without pesticides would reduce volume by 30 percent.
Crops can't defend themselves, not as far as we know.
And every year in France 7 new harmful insects appear.
The French approval process is the strictest in the world.
We're speaking here of the least harmful products.
Tetrazine is the safest herbicide ever produced.
Don't believe me. There are 3,300 studies confirm this,
versus one.
As head of the Toxic Substance Commission, what do you suggest?
Place a policeman behind each phytosanitary product user?
How about a trooper behind each driver in order to prevent
4,000 traffic-related deaths?
These arrogant lobbyists are unbearable!
What are they doing here?
Allow me to focus the discussion.
I personally wanted every side of this issue present today.
The Environmental Secretary, Secretary of Agriculture,
Economic Secretary, several Senators.
I also wanted the expert advice
of industry representatives.
Notably those of Tetrazine.
So they can have their say, same as you.
With public opinion so divided
we must aim for decisive action this year.
What's the tendency for the Parliamentary vote?
Fifty-fifty, with Germany on the fence.
Let's be the first E.U. nation to prohibit Tetrazine!
Listen, seed suppliers are weary.
Worn down by the pandemic and European politics.
They wonder whether to invest in our continent.
Can you imagine if they withdraw?
19,000 companies,
2.63 million jobs in the balance.
I actually think we shouldn't be overly legalistic.
In practice, things are evolving.
Seed suppliers have committed
to assisting in a gradual reduction of Tetrazine use.
They intend to respect accords made with you, and expect
you to pitch in for that change.
They only ask that you bear in mind what is essential.
The common good.
Jobs in northern countries, hunger in the south.
There will be 10 billion people on earth in 2050.
How do we feed them?
In 2050, we'll be struggling with the effects of global warming!
Dramatic increases in flooding, drought!
There is a new awareness in government.
We'll never be in pesticides like before.
Like it or not, old-style farming
fed 1.5 billion humans. We'll soon have 10 times that.
Your plan is, unfortunately, not realistic.
Organic farming costs much more, and yields half as much.
2 to 3 billion people could die.
European farmers could feed the world.
It's not about volume, it's about access.
The deathly danger is pesticides, a threat to public health!
Same old song! Nothing but ideology.
Prime Minister,
like anyone else,
I would demand the strict prohibition of Tetrazine
if the scientific proof of its toxicity were presented to us.
Our parliamentary report,
based on irrefutable scientific studies,
shows that Tetrazine is not a carcinogen.
Scientifically,
Tetrazine is less carcinogenic than the candy we give our children.
And that is not prohibited.
And if I may,
my own opinion is that a nation that no longer
trusts its scientists, is one that has stalled.
Not asleep?
Mommy?
Yes?
When Daddy dies,
what happens to us?
He won't die, darling.
Your daddy is an angel.
A real one.
And angels...
don't die. You know that?
- Mommy? - Yes?
I'm not 4 anymore.
Here you are, Mom.
This is Gabriel.
So many people!
In one week, the Cabinet issues a report,
translated into 20 languages,
and including a projection
on the catastrophic economic impact of banning Tetrazine,
country by country.
Each European Deputy will have one.
Good timing.
For the vote, I could manage an adjournment to Friday evening
if there is enough discussion, and recesses.
That brings us to late at night.
Only our guys will remain.
Conditions will be favorable.
Out of the 50 on the Forum,
how many can you flip?
I'll have to bang some desks.
There are a few hard noses,
but most of them have no backbone at all.
Give us a list of the rebels, we'll shake some trees too.
I'll send it to you.
I'll see you out, Mr. Bauchamp.
- Thanks, bye. - Bye.
Bauchamp is a whore.
We're teaming up with an abysmally stupid whore.
A guy who thinks and says that social inequality
is genetic, who spent his youth in far-right groups.
Guy is sickening from A to Z.
Are we getting picky now?
Bauchamp might be playing us.
He could fuck us at the last second, vote for the ban.
He's double-crossed people before.
Here's the package.
- A note with it? - Nothing.
How did you get this?
A jump drive sent to my office, an anonymous sender.
They're authentic.
No doubt about it.
For 20 years, ecologists have sought this.
Proof
that the firms know.
Do you realize the impact this could have now,
right before the vote?
We could permanently sink the renewal. Mr. Vanec, this...
could change everything!
I get spontaneous statements, people send money.
But I need to know, are you willing to go on record?
You.
If I testify...
I expose my family.
If I don't, I continue to live in silence.
Give me a little time.
If they learn that you have this,
assuming they don't already know,
they'll do anything to keep it from getting out. Anything.
Stay alert.
And put these documents somewhere safe.
Be very careful.
We'd interview you.
You tell us everything.
How you came to possess these documents,
what you intend to do with them.
I'm remaining anonymous.
That weakens it.
Perhaps, but it's non-negotiable.
I'm not here as a lawyer, just a citizen.
I don't want to be out front, or waste time.
I also sent copies of the documents I gave you
to universities,
to professors and students,
for classes and lectures,
to write theses, article, maybe even books.
Meanwhile, you're first with them.
So...
what will you do with them?
Assuming you're still interested, still in.
We authenticated the documents you gave us.
And we've deemed them to be of "public utility".
Everyone will give them priority.
It's going to be wild.
Manufacturer Knows Tetrazine Is Carcinogen
That goes out on the AFP wire.
Five thousand media outlets, the world over.
In six languages, and on our social media.
All of French and European media.
BBC, CNN, web giants.
They'll all pick it up.
We'll reach hundreds of millions of people.
The world will know.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Germany, in the end, supported the license renewal,
joined by Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and 14 other members.
The "yes" camp garnered 65.71 percent of the vote.
The vote we watched today
is a vote for reason, for protecting agriculture
and our food supply.
I have two kids.
I can't back a product harmful to them to their generation.
I want to look them in the eye
and say that what we're doing is good for their future.
- Thanks. - Gentlemen, ma'am.
They're all gone.
Cheers.
You like your life?
What we do is dirty, isn't it?
In 2004, Atrazine was banned.
Remember?
Since then, with government complicity,
the French continued to make and sell, discreetly,
this highly carcinogenic pesticide
to developing nations.
The same goes for Chlordecone, more or less.
At the worst of the Covid period we pushed amendments through
to expand spraying zones.
We knowingly used the chaos to do that. Remember?
An idea you pushed hard for.
We are what we do, Mathias.
What we do
is justify all this garbage.
Long live Tetrazine!
You discover the world is cynical?
Right when the game is won?
What have we won?
Nothing.
We've messed up, right from the start.
In France, 43 percent think the Health Dept. works with Big Pharma
to hide how harmful vaccines are.
34 percent think Princess Diana's car accident
was actually a murder.
25 percent think immigration
is deliberately planned to replace the European population.
15 percent think airplane vapor trails are really chemicals
dispersed for secret reasons.
9 percent think there was no moon landing,
5 percent that the earth is flat...
People are lost, Paul.
Our business is to reassure them.
That's what we do.
I've seen you doubt for months.
Your hands trembling, your tired face in the morning.
What's going on?
I'm done. I'm resigning.
Resigning...
My resignation letter is on Moore's desk.
"I don't want to croak
"before seeing for myself
"black dogs in Mexico
"in their dreamless sleep."
The confidential Tetrazine file
has been leaked to Fameau.
What does that mean?
Phytosanis will say they're forged. That should work, right?
Are you involved in that?
A card gets turned face up.
The game is changed.
I asked you if you're involved!
Does that terrify you?
Fuck!
- Phytosanis! - Murderers!
Turn on the news. It's out!
...actions in tandem happening
in France, obviously resulting from the Tetrazine vote
- and shocking revelations... - Spontaneous protests
are widespread in major cities,
and every Phytosanis office in France.
Anger and indignance are the dominant sentiments here.
"How could they?" "Liars!" "Murderers!" are the words on every protester's lips.
Phytosanis...
Murderers!
Raise your hands!
Murderers!
They knew!
Tetrazine is a carcinogenic chemical!
They knew!
- Phytosanis... - Murderers!
Yeah, we're there. We see her.
Blood on their hands!
- Phytosanis... - Has blood on their hands!
Phytosanis flatly denies the authenticity of the report
and strongly condemns these intrusive and destructive acts.
These so-called activists
prove, by their acts, they are militant radicals, bent on violence.
These attacks and this broad disinformation campaign
has only one name. Ecoterrorism.
Phytosanis has blood on their hands!
I didn't do anything!
Don't touch me!
Let us tell you what's going on!
Let me go!
I didn't do anything!
Today should be the trial of the poisoners.
Yet the poisoned stand accused.
Do bullies always defeat their victims?
This case relates to Margot and Lucie Tauran.
Eric Féret and members of his NGO retained me after their arrest.
Ten months ago, articles appeared
about Phytoleaks.
No one forgot that.
In ten months,
not a single indictment was issued. Not one!
Neither here nor abroad.
And yet in France,
my clients were sued
by Phytosanis, for libel.
What's more, they're charged with obstruction of traffic,
insurrection, or unlawful assembly
with intent to damage property.
And no less!
One of the demonstrators I represent
has undertaken a hunger strike.
Risking her life,
in the hopes of obtaining justice.
How can you hope for justice?
In this case, of course,
the responsible party
is Phytosanis, but also
all who know and remain silent.
Their silence and cowardice makes them complicit.
And I hope that history and justice will remember,
that one day they'll be held to account.
Thanks.
Mr. Fameau!
Please!
Ma'am, you may make your statement.
Today, I'm thinking
of Lucie and Margot Tauran.
And of all those men and women whose names we don't know.
My husband was poisoned by Tetrazine,
a pesticide manufactured by Phytosanis.
He is right now fighting his illness.
In a very dignified manner.
Those who poison us...
don't see the illness.
They don't see the sick bodies,
the fear,
the pain.
I'm ashamed...
to live in this world,
where every day
an obsession with profit
devours our lives.
I couldn't protect my husband. I couldn't find
a slingshot to fight this Goliath, but...
I know
all together, we will continue to fight
until we obtain, one day, I hope,
laws that are just.
The powerful can't see their world falling apart,
that catastrophe is becoming inevitable.
For as long as French law
doesn't prohibit Tetrazine,
I will continue my hunger strike.
I will go all the way.
Why are we here today?
Why are the poisoners
absent?
Will there one day exist
a world without all this?
I believe there will.
I want to believe
that another world is possible.
A more honest one,
a more human one.
I believe in that.
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
"with your one wild and precious life?"
For our mothers,
who taught us the breath of wind, the scent of flowers,
and how fragile and beautiful life is.
On blue summer evenings
along a trail
flecked with wheat
upon soft grass I'll tread
In reverie I shall feel it
cool upon my feet
And I shall let the wind
wash over my bare head.
I shall not speak,
I shall not think
But infinite love shall swell within my soul.
Subtitling: Michael Katims