Our City
This is Brussels, the capital of Europe, a city made of concrete cages wrapped in glass, run by its businessmen and politicians, activated by its tradesmen and animated by its office workers. In its interstices, out of bureaucracy’s reach, there’s another Brussels, one that’s still breathing. We hear the beating of its multicultural heart, we see the traces of all the other cities, all these cities that we carry inside us.
| Actor | Maria Tarantino |
| Share on |
An Iranian poet, now a taxi driver in Belgium, takes us through the streets of Brussels. Here’s a café where elderly Greek immigrants talk about their children’s achievements. There, a Nigerian jewellery-maker tells us about the flying carpet that brought her to Brussels. The banter of builders on a construction site at the Council of Europe’s HQ, designed by its architect as a “cultural patchwork” to be the metaphor expressing “united in diversity”. Seriously? This constitutes the force of “Our City” – a camera that relentlessly explores the urban area with the firm intention of rendering the living presence of a patchwork city onto the screen with a gaze that doesn't let itself be fooled, ready to outwit any smug speechifying with an image or scene. The directing is playful, like a nursery rhyme where one encounter leads to the next, taking us on an extraordinary journey into the heart of Brussels.
Pauline David
Festival En Ville ! (Bruxelles - BEL)
An Iranian poet, now a taxi driver in Belgium, takes us through the streets of Brussels. Here’s a café where elderly Greek immigrants talk about their children’s achievements. There, a Nigerian jewellery-maker tells us about the flying carpet that brought her to Brussels. The banter of builders on a construction site at the Council of Europe’s HQ, designed by its architect as a “cultural patchwork” to be the metaphor expressing “united in diversity”. Seriously? This constitutes the force of “Our City” – a camera that relentlessly explores the urban area with the firm intention of rendering the living presence of a patchwork city onto the screen with a gaze that doesn't let itself be fooled, ready to outwit any smug speechifying with an image or scene. The directing is playful, like a nursery rhyme where one encounter leads to the next, taking us on an extraordinary journey into the heart of Brussels.
Pauline David
Festival En Ville ! (Bruxelles - BEL)
