Koen Timmerman

As the world attempts to grapple with the strange new reality precipitated by COVID-19, essential workers are risking their lives daily. This guerilla documentary, shot in Brussels Erasmus University Hospital during the first few months of the lockdown, tells their story.

Mainstream media have described the Brussels district of Molenbeek as the "jihad capital of Europe," after several suspects in the terrorist attacks on France and Belgium were revealed to have been recruited from its large Muslim community. In the heart of this troubled neighbourhood, Coiffure Zaïdi, a barber shop sitting just opposite a mosque, serves as a meeting place for locals of all ages. This is where award-winning director Sahim Omar Kalifa installed his camera, capturing casual conversations between clients of North African origins. As shocked and dismayed by recent events as anyone else, they discuss unemployment and failed integration, immigration policies and government surveillance. With a fly-on-the-wall approach to these animated debates, and a keen, humanizing eye for the most significant details, Kalifa composes a charming and vivid tableau of a population continually stigmatized and circumscribed by media stereotypes.

1976年、米サンフランシスコ。アーティストを夢見る15歳の少女ミニー・ゲッツは、自分のルックスにコンプレックスを抱き、なかなか男の子と話ができず悩んでいた。そんなある日、母親の彼氏であるグータラだけどかっこいい中年男モンローに思わず、セックスをおねだり！バージンを捨て、心がはずみっぱなしのミニーは、絵を描いたり、日記代わりに使っているテープレコーダーに自分の想いや出来事を赤裸々に吹きこんでいく。しかし、それを思いがけない人に聞かれてしまい・・・。