Don Quixote and Segregation

We were honored to be invited by the prominent cultural center of Brussels, Beursschouwburg, to participate as moderators for the screening of the film Je suis la nuit en plein midi.

It is a film that, in a very peculiar and original way, explores segregation and, with it, the process of gentrification in the city of Marseille.

Our mission was to create a couple of short video pieces to promote the screening of the film, but also to host a short conversation with the director, Gaspard Hirschi.

The film explores segregation, the barricades, and the divisional entities that appear in the urban fabric of Marseille through two figures who take on the roles of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Promoting this video felt very natural for us, because our daily work against gentrification often pushes us to take on the roles of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza ourselves—fighting continuously against the large and invisible forces of gentrification that often seem unbeatable.

There is a lot to say about this film, and we warmly recommend it. Among the many things that left a strong impression on us is the director’s idea to use the character of Don Quixote, riding a horse through the segregated urban territories of the city.

As the director explains:
“I needed a persona, a character, in order to move between two very different domains — underinvested ghettos and gated communities. At first I thought about disguising myself as a pizza delivery person. But that wasn’t enough. I needed something more unifying — something that people would equally not care about. A crazy person riding a horse.”

A magnificent way of camouflaging genuine intentions.

Thank you for this film — it is fantastic. We need more works like this.