Thelma

In the 1970s, the populous neighbourhood around Brussels-North Station was destroyed to make room for 'Little Manhattan', a modernist dream with the two World Trade Centre towers as its crown jewels. The project failed, leaving the towers and surrounding area largely abandoned. In 2017, the private owners and politicians joined forces to redynamise the area. Fearing that history might repeat itself, Lietje Bauwens and Wouter De Raeve decided to enter the debate by making a film with the actors that claim a voice in the transition: politicians, an activist, the private owner, designers and others. Taking the WTC towers as its object, the film investigates contemporary urban redevelopment processes, and traces the influx of new ecological and participatory ideas and their actual impact. WTC A Love Story uses fiction as a method to explore whose stories enter the stage when the process of political representation is accelerated.