La ville disparue
La ville disparue
La ville disparue, un voyage, (The Lost City, a journey)**, 2009
Video HDV 16:9 color sound, 36 min
English and German subtitles
The camera glides along, borne by a cargo that passes the north coast of Quebec. A dry and monotonous landscape slowly passes by, rhythmed by the halts and the activities of the workers. Throughout the journey, we are accompanied by a few indian passengers from the local Inuit communities. This is covered by the accounts of unseen previous inhabitants of Gagnon further inland, a town entirely destroyed in 1985 after its iron mine was shut down. They recall the ideal way of life led in this region originally considered totally hostile to Man. They explain the reasons for their exile, how life in the community was organized and the rupture suffered when the town was closed down. They talk of the fascination they still have for this site that now resembles a science fiction set.
Witness accounts, memories photographed, images of trips and sounds together create a hybrid object where the universal questions about migration, territory and habitat and also memory intertwine.