A smartly observed examination at what happens when political, social and financial imperatives collide set against the controversial and polarizing backdrop of the World Trade Centre in Brussels North. The area around Brussels North Station was destroyed in the 1970s to make room for ‘Little Manhattan’, a modernist dream featuring the two towers, but it is now deemed to be a project that failed.
Filmmakers Lietje Bauwens and Wouter De Raeve had a clear view of the area and its issues from their studio space on the 25th floor of WTC tower 1, but rather than simply make a film that dwells on the physical plight of the area, they have crafted a film that tries to bring a voice to many of the characters and personalities involved in the decision-making for the future.
Titling the film WTC: A Love Story (which screens at Visions du Réel in the Burning Lights Competition section) is intriguing but also a little disingenuous as the word ‘love’ is rarely, if ever, used when it comes to discussing Little Manhattan. Apparently the area was once a lively mixed neighbourhood, but now the glossy looking high-rise towers sit amidst challenging urban housing, an immigrant population struggling to deal with the cards dealt them and activists seeking to craft a fresh form of living from this modernist dream.
When the project failed, the towers and surrounding area were largely abandoned, but since late 2017, the owner of the towers has shown a renewed interest in the area. Various parties are involved in discussions, but rather than have them speak directly in the film, Lietje Bauwens and Wouter De Raeve recruit actors to ‘play’ them. The film sees the actors briefly interview the people they will portray and then pitches them into debates and discussions, watched over by the real participants.
Taking the WTC towers as its backdrop, the film project unravels power relations between the different personalities involved in the urban redevelopment, and traces the influx of new progressive, ecological and horizontalist ideas and their impact on the area. The actors also add their own voices, and hence more complexity, to proceedings as they role-play the real participants (politicians, an activist, the private owner, designers and others) over coffee or in the conference room to try and reach conclusions and clarity.
There are times when the process works and the actors offer a different spin on clearly complex and philosophical discussions, but at the same time given the 60-minute running time there is also a niggling suspicion that the structure doesn’t allow for the depth of examination that the subject matter really deserves. That said, the story will continue in a series which promises to follow events to their conclusion, adding more characters and their associated ‘actors’.
WTC: A Love Story boldly tries to use fiction as a method to explore the rather sad story of a dream that failed, but also hints of a better future in terms of delivering a sensitive urban project that may mean a better life for residents.
Belgium, 2021, 60mins
Dirs Lietje Bauwens, Wouter De Raeve
Production Video Power, Kaaitheater
Producers Daan Milius, Hans van Hezik
Cinematography Pieter Dumoulin, Ruben Desiere, Hannes Verhoustraete
Editor Caszimir Cleutjens
Music Jens Bouttery
With Mathieu Berger, Marie Anais Bluteau, Kristiaan Borret, Gert Bouquiaux, Pieter Torbeyns, Jan Denoo, Werner Joris, Chaima Ghaida, Arbaud van Puyenbroeck, Mehdi Kassou, Sven Lenaerts, Ans Persoons
