Chemins de traverse

December 1995. The reform of the Social Security arouses opposition from the state employees, and when the contract for the National Railways Plan is refused, this mobilises workers from the SNCF. At the Austerlitz railway station, two young filmmakers accompany the strikers through to the end of an uncertain but exhilarating experience. ‘We’re not making trains work, we’re making ideas work’, says Francis a young railwayman. Between the morning meetings and the day-to-day organisation, each person opens up in turn. Moments of respite, away from the fray, where words find freedom in the space given over to them.