Paris, 1955. The Martiniquan Aimé Césaire writes a letter-poem to the Haitian René Depestre. The latter is a frontal attack on Louis Aragon. The three men of letters found themselves at the heart of one of the most fertile post-war poetic controversies - and through them France, the West Indies and Africa - the stakes of which quickly extended beyond literary circles.

How did Louis Aragon and Aimé Césaire, two of the greatest poets of the 20th century, come to be opposed to each other? One joined the Communist Party in 1930, the other in 1935. Césaire resigned from the PCF in 1956, mainly because of the revelations of the Khrushchev report, but Aragon kept silent and remained in the party until his death. However, the two men's opposition was not just a political dispute over de-Stalinisation. The rupture between them is older, deeper, and rooted in a historical context of decolonisation that took the form of an attempt at cultural colonisation by the other. Moreover, Césaire found it comical to receive a lesson in proletarianism from a French bourgeois, who spent most of his time dealing with problems of public health or water purification, both as deputy for Martinique and as mayor of Fort-de-France. But, at a deeper level, Césaire did not accept the fact that the West Indian imagination was being placed under the French cultural yoke, even if it was communist.

Documentary film directed by Guy Deslauriers - Written by Patrick Chamoiseau - With the exceptional participation of Lucien Jean-Baptiste and the voice of Alain Azerot. Produced by Kreyolimages, with the participation of France Télévisions - Duration 60 min - 2018