The Wall

The Wall is a film originally intended to be screened in the runup to Belgiums national elections in the spring of 1968 In that year the tensions between the Dutch and Frenchspeaking communities were marked by often violent demonstrations and the threat of splitting the country The story plays with fact and fiction by interweaving found footage of news reports with staged scenes The main character is the wall which similar to the division of Berlin is erected through the centre of Brussels Although the film was made by the team that compiled cinema newsreels for the company Belgavox the influence of Henri Storckthe pioneer of poetic realism in the Belgian documentary filmis omnipresent in the camerawork framing and editing as well as in the use of amateur actors and filming in the street