The doors of the abandoned Raverdy coffee and chicory factory remain closed, just like everything around it. The director – herself a descendant of the Raverdy family (and expecting her first child) – goes in search of the stories behind this sealed-off part of the city. She moves in with her 91-year-old grandmother, who lives over the road. Piece by piece, she is able to reconstruct events leading up to the factory’s closure, using old photos, advertising brochures, myths, language games, conversations with her grandmother and former female factory workers. These memories unfold through different storylines. The factory’s surroundings are explored through a poetic film style, and the history of the nunnery next to the factory is also revealed. This sensitive film is a reflection on the invisible and the forgotten, revolving around women and the changing body.

Directing: Messaline Raverdy
Image & Sound: Olivier Dekegel, Benjamin Liberda, Clément Losson
Editing: Ivanne de Cannart, Ridi Maerten
Mixing: Remi Gérard
Color correction: Miléna Trivier
Music: Hilde Nash
Production: L’atelier Molloy
Coproduction: CBA/SIC

A film developed in the framework of SIC

Year: 2018
Duration: 51’
Language: French
Subtitles: English

Trailer: https://mubi.com/films/behind-the-shutters-2018

Cinergie.be, article by Bertrand Gevart, 25/09/2020 https://www.cinergie.be/actualites/derriere-les-volets-de-messaline-raverdy

Interview, at Festival Black Canvas, Mexico (2019): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2172384786390592

Article by Chelsea Phillips-Carr , 28/04/19, https://povmagazine.com/review-behind-the-shutters/

Interview, at Festival Olhar de Cinema, Brasil (2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAKZ6kbRg3A

Article by Emanuela Siqueira (en Espagnol), 12/06/18, https://blocodenotasaleatorias.wordpress.com/2018/06/12/por-detras-das-cortinas-de-messaline-raverdy-e-a-poetica-do-cerzir/

Article by Alonso Castro (in Spanish),19/06/18, https://desistfilm.com/olhar-de-cinema-2018-derriere-les-volets-de-messaline-raverdy/

Festivals:

Dresdner Film Festival Schmalfilmtage, DE, 2021
MOCA. Museo Online de Cine Autobiográfico, Program around Belgian cinema, ES, 15-21 april, 2021
Online on Doc Alliance, dafilms.com, 10/2020
5th Working Title Film Festival, Italie, 2020
Argos TV11 online: 29 May – 5 June, Argos, BE, 2020
Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporáneo, Mexico, 10/2019
Festival Cámara Lúcida – Encuentros Cinematográficos, Equateur, 2019
26e Hot Docs Festival, “World Showcase” section, 2019
Projection at Argos, Black Box, mars – avril, BE 2019
Bergamo Film meeting, Bergamo, Italie, 2019
Millenium Festival, Brussels, BE, 2019
IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam, Pays Bas, NL, 2019
Preview at Bozar, Brussels, 2018
Festival “Les écrans du réel”, Le Mans, France, 2018

Young Jury Award at Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporáneo, Mexico, 10/2019
Best Film at Film Festival Olhar de Cinema – Curitiba Int’l Film Festival, Brasil, 2018
Grand Prix du Jury at Festival de L’Acharnière, Lille, France, 2018

Joseph can no longer live at home. For years, he traveled the city with his trolley to amass kilos of disparate papers and collections of objects of all kinds, saturating his apartment with a labyrinthine chaos. He has a dizzying culture and a sharp sense of humor. He is said to have “Diogenes syndrome”. I help him to unclog his interior. A friendship is forged. 
Between order and chaos, the portrait of a man and the attempt to enter his mental space. His crossing of the century, his dreams, his memories. The film, a kaleidoscope between hot and cold, between overflow and bursts of laughter, recounts our encounter. The promise of a second life, and the affirmation of uncompromising freedom.

Production: Matière Première (Julien Contreau)
Co-production: Survivance, GSARA, Luna Blue Film, Shelter Prod, CBA
With the support of the Cinema and Audiovisual Center of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation