Through the Walls of the Heart

Colour, 35mm
Belgium, 2001, 90 min
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

What do a medieval town, a life and a hospital have in common? All three are clearly defined, enclosed spaces which one day you enter and then after a while leave. Through the Walls of the Heart is an epic poem on birth and death whose main character is St Peter’s Hospital in the heart of Brussels. Director Anne Lévy-Morelle asks her viewers to break through walls concealing pain and suffering, walls, however, which also offer recovery and hope. The journey back in time reveals the medieval roots of an extensive hospital complex which ‘became extinct’ several times in its nearly thousand-year history and was ‘resurrected’ again. A journey through seven chapters – doors opening on experiences, matter, images and thoughts, accompanied by a commentary-poem narrated by French actress Marie Trintignant.

About the director

Anne Lévy-Morelle (b. 1961) graduated from the humanities faculty of the University of Brussels and INSAS (field: film/radio-TV). Hard to characterise, her work includes documentaries, poems, epic stories and dramatic shorts. Filmography: Gare du Luxembourg (1986), Tout va (tres) bien (1987), Les Tentations d’Albert (1989), Manfred (1993), Le reve de Gabriel (1997), Through the Walls of the Forest (2001).