Human Geography

Large numbers of travelers pass through the world-famous Parisian train station Gare du Nord every day, and director Claire Simon (, ) took her camera there to meet them. Her documentary forms part of a larger multimedia project that also includes a feature film entitled and an accompanying website. In the introduction to this film, Simon explains that, “To get to know Gare du Nord, it requires at least two people.” So she invites her French-Algerian boyfriend Simon Mérabet to join her. Seemingly without effort, this amiable man invariably wearing a long coat and carrying a backpack seems able to elicit remarkable life stories. People speak to him openheartedly about their homesickness, doubts, joys and dreams of the future. This mix of vacationers, business travelers, immigrants, semi-permanent inhabitants and workers make up the melting pot of cultures and stories. They’re all doing their best to survive in France’s complex society. The many conversations – some lengthy, some consisting of single sentences – are interspersed with atmospheric shots of life passing by on the platforms and in the extensive network of passageways. This is a documentary portrait both of a train station and its reflection of a society touched by globalization.