When French writer Marguerite Duras (1914-96) published her novel The Sea Wall in 1950, she came very close to winning the prestigious Prix Goncourt. Meanwhile, in Indochina, France was suffering its first military defeats in its war against the Việt Minh, the rebel movement for independence.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
 Romane BohringerSelf - Reader | Self - Reader |
| AAnn Laura StolerSelf- Anthropologist | Self- Anthropologist |
 Françoise VergèsSelf - Politologist | Self - Politologist |
 Alain RuscioSelf - Historian | Self - Historian |
| BBoulomsouk SvadphaiphaneSelf - Writer | Self - Writer |
 Marguerite DurasSelf - Writer (archive footage) | Self - Writer (archive footage) |