Those Who Watch Over (Ceux Qui Veillent)
Qumra Projects
/ Feature Documentary / Belgium, Qatar, France
In Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Greek, Hindi, Turkish, Wolof
Rated: This film has not been rated.
- Come back soon to see screening dates
Synopsis
An immigrant ceases to be a traveller when they decide to be buried in their host land. In the south of Brussels, on a patch of virgin ground that used to be a military airport, a new story is being written—that of our ancestors. By completing the cycle of life, by choosing or being forced, because of Covid, to complete it here in Belgium, many immigrants of Arab and African origin have anchored us, their children and families, in their host land. These traces tell us stories that are extended or reinvented when we, the living, find ourselves confronted with our dead, our rituals, and our imaginations in our search to maintain a bond with them. How do we communicate with our dead? What do they tell us? How do they protect us? How do they watch over us? And how do we watch over them? The film speaks of these private encounters. From a standpoint that is at once intimate and polyphonic, I seek to put these stories into dialogue. I look at others; I look at 'Those Who Watch Over' gathered in this place where care is taken to respect plurality for the dead and their living relatives.