The battle of La Plaine

2021 · 70 min · Documentary

Marseille, a European city like many others. La Plaine, a lively district, a large square, a historic and popular market. A tumultuous battle between, on the one hand, the city council's urban planning services, determined to carry out a major program of "requalification" of the district. On the other hand, a part of the residents, who refuse this gentrification operation, and demand to be associated to the decisions. This epic story lasts 3 years and ends abruptly with the incredible construction of a concrete wall of 2m50 high all around the square. The television of the district, imprinted with the stories of past uprisings, a tool of counter-propaganda throughout this battle, refuses to stop at the report of a defeat and wonders. Summoning the Free Communes of 1871, their joyful and fiery rage, a singular writing takes hold of the fiction. In order to make this collective struggle a victorious human adventure, another way of making the city and the world is envisaged.

Directed by Thomas Hakenholz

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