It was two years ago. The city of the Big Neighbors closed its doors and dissipated a little the idea of a social utopia in the heart of Paris. And today, as a testimony to the moments spent with perhaps a hint of nostalgia, Bastien Simon delivers The Big Neighbors - The Dreamed City , a documentary film accessible in streaming on the 25th hour, the coronavirus crisis requires.
The director took part in the adventure in 2015 when the Aurore association obtained the management of the old Saint-Vincent-de-Paul hospital in the 14th arrondissement to make a social center there, before it was converted. in eco-neighborhood. Bastien Simon sets up his workshop there with the idea of collecting "the words of those who live here, in this old hospital". Very quickly, he takes out the camera and begins filming the 600 residents on site, most of them fragile and precarious, who live with 300 people from associations or companies in the social and solidarity economy.
Bedbugs and exclusion
He obtained a series Les Grands Voisins, a logbook before getting down to making a feature film. In this one, filmed on steady-cam, it follows the path of Maël, painter, who tries in vain to obtain French nationality, of Adrien, luthier and co-founder of the group KaceKode, or even of William, Aurore's referent for the site.
In parallel, Bastien Simon offers slices of life of this utopia which wants to “break down barriers, stereotypes and prejudices”, in the words of William. We attend musical rehearsals, initiations to the theater, or to the council of Big Neighbors where the major orientations of the site are discussed and decided.
The tone is generally benevolent, but Bastien Simon does not hide the difficulties encountered, whether it is bedbugs or acts of rudeness that disrupt the proper functioning of the site. "We are trying at all costs to avoid exclusion," repeats William, who does not want to dismiss people who have been excluded all their lives.
But like any utopia, it comes to an end in December 2017. If some call to stay at any cost, the departure is made and the facilities gradually dismantled. There is the delicate question of rehousing residents while William denounces "budget cuts and a reduction in accommodation places". By dint of perseverance the residents are relocated but the spirit of the site has lived, even if it tries to spread elsewhere. There remains a bit of nostalgia because as Maël said: “Here, miracles happen anyway. "
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- Documentary
- Cinema
- Paris