INTERVIEW
On November 5, 2018, the collapse of two buildings caused the death of 8 people rue d'Aubagne, in the heart of Marseille. A year later, documentary filmmaker Karine Bonjour publishes a documentary book on the drama, Rue d'Aubagne, narrative of a break (Editions Parenthèses ). On Europe 1, it delivers an overwhelming testimony on the state of the Phocaean city, and strongly denounces the bankruptcy of the public authorities.
"The city has changed but worse, because now many streets are barred by concrete walls that eventually protect the fall of other buildings.Some streets are no longer walkable," says the documentary. "But the city has not changed in terms of rehabilitation and renovation, despite all the buildings that need it, and every month there are evacuations of buildings."
>> TO READ - First anniversary of the drama of the rue d'Aubagne: "Jean-Claude Gaudin would come if he had a clear conscience"
"The district of the rue d'Aubagne remains under a chain of silence and sadness"
The tragedy occurred in the popular district of Noailles, close to the Old Port. One year later, the inhabitants remain deeply marked. "The district of the rue d'Aubagne remains under a chain of silence and sadness that it struggles to overcome, despite its small shops and usual hustle and bustle, it's not the same, it's not the same atmosphere, "says Karine Bonjour, who has followed many people still waiting for relocation.
"What has also changed a lot in a year is that everyone who has been dislodged is moving from hotel to hotel, and we can pretend that this invisible crowd did not exist, as the city of Marseille, but we can also live with her, and see that she is desperate because nothing happens.
"How is it possible that Jean-Claude Gaudin remains in office?"
The documentary maker also strongly criticized the public authorities, in the first place the mayor of Marseille Jean-Claude Gaudin. "How is it possible, in France, that a mayor of a very large city remains in office after such a catastrophe? Very sincerely, if it had happened in Paris, the mayor would have left office", wants to believe Karine Hello.
"Here everything is normal: the fact that Jean-Claude Gaudin is still mayor does not bother anyone on the spot, neither in the national political institutions, nor in his own party.The elected officials designated as owners of unhealthy housing are still in office. it is amazing, but it is the French Republic as it disguises itself in Marseille ", notes the documentary filmmaker.
"The Marseillais only understand that it's not normal"
But a year later, the Marseillais begin to become aware of the shortcomings of the public authorities. "The inhabitants are in formaldehyde, after decades of abandonment by the authorities.People have turned away from politics, the rate of abstention in Marseille is enormous.They have just understood that what is happening in Marseille is not normal, that the municipal management is not normal ", estimates Karine Bonjour.
"It's the people who managed the families of the victims, the meals, the transport tickets ... They realized that they were just as capable as municipal technicians." Now, the inhabitants want to do with the public authorities . "