In 1972, Jean Gaumy took some of his first photos in a smoked herring factory in Fécamp. Particularly attracted by one of the workshops, that of the women who cut up the fish, he decided to make his first film with them. Some of them have been doing this tedious work for over twenty-five years. All of them are full of enthusiasm, full of a vitality that contrasts with the dirt and difficulties of their work.
As seasons and events unfold in the village of Octeville-sur-Mer, the filmmaker describes the close and affectionate ties that have grown between the villagers and Jean-Jacques, a curious fellow who should in no way be likened to a “village idiot”.
Jean Gaumy was Marcel Puech's student at the theological college at Aurillac. Puech is now a country priest in Auvergne. Gaumy's film recounts the priest's daily life, the sister he works with, against the background of a changing countryside.
