Véronique Lagoarde-Ségot, director of "First Resistance Fighters: Alone Against All": "I focused on depicting the spontaneity of their approach, which is often visceral."

With Premiers résistants, seul contre tous , Véronique Lagoarde-Ségot has created a documentary woven from archives and the intimate stories of three young French resistance fighters during the German occupation (1940-1945): the brilliant Jacques Lusseyran, a blind 16-year-old high school student in Louis-le-Grand, Paris; the intrepid Gilbert Brustlein, 21, and the young activist Mireille Albrecht, 16.

When I began to look for the personalities I wanted to highlight, I was able to see that many young people had taken part in resistance, but few had left written traces. However, I did not want to truncate the reasons for their commitment or to project a later interpretation of their journey. It was therefore necessary to focus on those who had recounted and explained their choice. I also endeavored to recount the spontaneity of their approach, often visceral. Mireille Albrecht, Jacques Lusseyran and Gilbert Brustlein reacted immediately after Marshal Pétain's radio address on June 17, 1940, which called for a "cease of the fight." Most of these young people had no political position, nor anyone to push them. They each got involved in their own way. They sometimes even did it in secret to protect their families, risking their lives and those of their loved ones. This is the case of Gilbert Brustlein, whose mother died during deportation to Auschwitz, arrested in his place by the French police. He carried the guilt for this all his life.

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