Sep 19
International Film Forum: NOUS
Nous [We] (Alice Diop, 2021, France, 115 min.)
In Nous, French documentary-maker Alice Diop (who has a personal interest in the matter, having grown up in an Aulnay-sous-Bois housing project) tries her hand at definition, at building bridges, at forging paths and establishing links between two worlds which observe one another from a distance but also up-close, amidst a complex fog of mistrust and empathy. It’s a patchwork film loosely set in the vast region surrounding the RER B train line (which crosses the Paris region north-south-north), revolving around "little lives", which form the focus of the director’s talent for capturing all things human. But, ultimately, her suggestive intentions raise just as many contrasting questions as they do answers on what has come to pass and what is currently going on, and on the potential options we have for building a common life together. (Fabien Lamercier, Cineuropa)