HILLBROW

A man is on top of a building, under threat, at the edge of the void that opens behind him, giving on to the city. Then there is another man, crossing the city on foot, whose walk is interrupted by an attack, presumed to be fatal and then… A succession of situations shows a voyage through Hillbrow, a once-fashionable Johannesburg district that has become a densely populated, violent area. Here we revisit Nicolas Boone’s predilection for neglected urban environments that are often loaded with stereotypes which he seeks to undermine, as was the case with his previous film, 200% (FID 2011), co-directed with Olivier Bosson. Here the journey is guided by fictional characters played by local residents. Ten scenes inspired by stories collected in situ, inscribed in the city and presenting journeys filmed in long takes, the final one of which is very gripping. There is little dialogue in this film in which body language and actions are embodied in spaces: a supermarket, the street, a car park and wasteland. There is the omnipresent aspect of walking, whether slowly or urgently, but always as an inscription in a landscape. And as a backdrop to the violence as a rupture, be it explicit or underlying, is its counterpoint: the idea of a community that could form a body. (NF)