Li'l Quinquin

The first day of the summer holidays in the French countryside is nothing unusual for little Quinquin. He hangs around with his friends and annoys passers-by letting off firecrackers. All of a sudden, however, a police helicopter appears and disturbs this summer tedium. A dead cow has been found in an abandoned military bunker with a hacked-up local resident hidden inside its body. The two investigating detectives, each one eccentric in his own way, delve into the case as the number of suspects and other victims steadily grows. This television miniseries – which playfully subverts the conventions of the detective genre – marks Dumont's first foray into comedy. Visually and thematically refined, the work resembles little of what we are used to seeing on television. Above all, it betrays great authenticity and underhand humor as it looks at the disturbing nature of evil and its influence on rural life. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)