COMING TO STREAMING OCT. 8: "Wine Crush (Vas-y Coupe!)"

First Run Features is pleased to present the Streaming Premiere of New York filmmaker Laura Naylor’s WINE CRUSH (VAS-Y COUPE!), a beautifully observed portrait of seasonal labor at a family-owned vineyard in France.

Every year for the harvest, a motley team of laborers travels from the north of France to the celebrated Selosse vineyard in the Champagne region. Many of them have been picking these grapes for a quarter century and, though the work can be grueling, there is a cherished comfort in the comradery, the lovingly prepared meals and the late-night partying. But as the winemaker begins to hand over the business to his son – and younger workers increasingly join the team – it is unclear if this harvest tradition can endure.

"Engrossing...illuminating. A thorough, faithful portrait of the winemaking toils...the film’s beauty is in the meditative approach to showing the labor of all who have a part in Jacques Selosse’s output."
- Katya Kazbek, Supamodu

"Sharp-eyed and affable."
-Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com

"Immediately compelling...fascinating.
Rather than awkwardly suggest people put their soul into the champagne to give it body, 'Vas-y-Coupe' suggests the opposite in showing how the annual harvest brings out the humanity of all involved. Naylor strikes the right balance in emphasizing the challenges at all levels of the operation, the dignity of the work and the satisfaction it provides, underlined nicely by Ryan de Franco’s elegant cinematography and Brian Bender and Deniz Cuylan’s equally graceful score. Befitting of the beverage that is ultimately produced, the chronicle of a season in wine country offers a gratifying taste of life there."
-Stephen Saito, The Moveable Feast

Filmmaker Biography

LAURA NAYLOR is an award-winning filmmaker who fell for images while studying art at Columbia University. Her directorial debut, Duck Beach—a feature documentary about Mormon singles trying to tie-the knot—premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and aired on BBC 3 in the UK. Her second feature, The Fix, premiered at AFI Docs, won the jury prize for Best Documentary at the Soho International Film Festival, and was called a “poignant portrait of life in recovery” by The Hollywood Reporter. Her stop-motion adaptation, Bartleby, premiered at Aspen Shortsfest, won the Jury Prize for Best Film at the 2018 Lit on Film Fest, screened at Palm Springs International Shortfest, Sarasota Film Festival, Doyle Film Festival, and BAM Cinematek (among others), and landed as a Vimeo Staff Pick. Laura lives in Brooklyn with her understanding partner and one-year-old daughter.

"I hoped to tell more than a simple harvest story, to quietly upturn expectations, touching on issues of class, aging, gender, and social struggle. But, just as the workers themselves somehow seem to transform hard labor into a days-long party with friends, I aim to present these issues with the immersive, lyrical momentum of observational cinema, and of the harvest itself."

Produced and Directed by Laura Naylor
Co-produced by Guillaume Bellon
Executive Producer Elizabeth MacKenzie
Director of Photography Ryan De Franco
Edited by Virginie Danglades
Score by Brian Bender and Deniz Cuylan

Featuring
Miguel Delhaye Samuel Delhaye Bastien Favier Léa Favier Bruno Santiago Anselme Selosse Caroline Selosse Corinne Selosse Guillaume Selosse
Michel Waret Renelle Waret

And Muscat the dog