WTC: A Love Story

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.

Duration: 1 h

World Premiere:
Visions du Réel 2021, Nyon (CH)

Avant-Premiere:
11th of February 2020 at Kaaitheater in Brussels.

Nominations:
2021 – Nominated for Sesterce d’or La Mobilière to the best feature film in Visions du Réel, Nyon (CH)
2021 – Nominated for Jury Prize Région de Nyon to the most innovative feature film – Visions du Réel, Nyon (CH)
2021 – Nominated for Best Film in BARQ (Barcelona Architecture Film Fesival), Barcelona (SP)

Festivals:
– 2020 Festival Cine Pirate in collaboration with Coucou Puissant, Allee du Kaai, Brussels (BE)
– 2020 Film Market – Dokleipzig, Leipzig (GE)
– 2020 Docs for Sale at Idfa, Amsterdam (NL)
– 2021 Burning Lights Competition – Visions du Réel, Nyon (CH)
– 2021 Official Competition – BARQ (Architecture Film Festival Barcelona), Barcelona (ES)
– 2021 Panorama Section, Dortmund | Cologne International Women’s Film Festival, Dortmund/Cologne (DE)
– 2021 Festival Interference, Lyon (FR)
– 2021 Seoul Architecture International Film Festival, Seoul (KR)
– 2021 Festival en Ville, Brussels (BE)

Screenings:
– (Cancelled due to Corona) 2020 Private screening for the Flemish Government – het Kaaitheater Brussels(BE)
– (Cancelled due to Corona) 2020 Architecture Biennale of Copenhagen (DK)
– (Cancelled due to Corona) 2020 Universiteit Antwerpen Architectuur. Projection + talk with students. Antwerpen, (BE)
– 2020 Private screening for the staff of Leefmilieu Brussels/Bruxelles Environnement -Brussels (BE)
– 2020 Part of the Urban Maestro masterclass organised by United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the Brussels Bouwmeester Maître Architecte (BMA) and University College London (UCL) – Online
– 2020 WTC A Love Story – Private screening for participants. Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht (NL)
– 2020 In Between Utopia and Failure – Part II : WTC A Love Story, Organised by Argos and La Loge, Online (BE)
– 2021 Rotterdam Histories – TENT, Rotterdam (2021)
– 2021 Thursday Night Life at Nieuwe Instituut – Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam (NL)
– 2022 Educational Screening, University of Hasselt, CPUT (kaapstad university of technologie), Hasselt (BE)
– 2022 Educational Screening, Luca School of Arts, department Architecture, Brussels (BE)
– 2022 Workshop Landschapsarchitectuur, HOGent, (BE)
– 2022 Limburg Film Festival, Venlo (NL)
– 2022 Festival des utopies réelles, Hendaye (FR)
– 2023 Transitions Festival, Maastricht
– 2023 projection ARAU, Académie Royale des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles
– 2023 OT301, Amsterdam (NL)
– 2023 Au Jus, Brussels (BE)
– 2023 Workshop Eth Zurich, Northstation, Brussels
– 2023 Bozar, Brussels (BE)

Press:
– 2020 Kunstenaars maken docufictie over Noordwijk: ‘WTC is niet alleen de toren’ – Bruzz, 
Brussels (BE)
2020 De Brusselse Noordwijk moest een sprookje worden, maar werd een reusachtige 
nachtmerrie – De Morgen, Antwerpen (BE).
– 2021 RTV Maastricht: ‘Maastrichtse documentaire geselecteerd voor prestigieus festival’ 

Education/research/collections:
– 2020 Paper Post- Narrative Strategies by Clara Scholl (Student of KASK), Gent, (BE)
–  2020 Included in the official curriculum of Design Strategies and Methods of the Architecture course of Universiteit Antwerpen – Antwerpen (BE)
– 2021 DVD for the collection of MuntPunt, Brussels (BE)
– 2021 Screening for abonées of De Morgen (BE)

Directed by 431 (Lietje Bauwens and Wouter De Raeve) | produced by Daan Milius & Hans van Hezik for Video Power | image Pieter Dumoulin | music Jens Bouttery | sound Kwinten van Laethem | edit Caszimir Cleutjens | partners Kaaitheater, A+ architecture in Belgium, arp: | support The Arts and Heritage Agency of the Flemish Community, VGC, The ministry of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region responsible for Mobility and Public Works, Provincie Limburg (NL) Gemeente Maastricht, Mondriaan Fonds, Jan van Eyck Academie | characters Lietje Bauwens, Mathieu Berger, Marie-Anaïs Bluteau, Kristiaan Borret, Gert Bouquiaux, Jan Denoo, Wouter De Raeve, Chaïma Ghaïda, Werner Joris, Mehdi Kassou, Sven Lenaerts, Ans Persoons, Freek Persyn, Arnaud Van Puyenbroeck, Pieter Torbeyns | actors Tom Adjibi, Kris Cuppens, Valentijn Dhaenens, Davis Freeman, Hervé Guerrisi, Stefan Jakiela, Heike Langsdorf, Hervé Piron, Janneke Remmers, Nathalie Rozanes, Stine Sampers, Peter Vandenbemt | special thanks to Daan Milius & Christopher Roth

More info can be found on www.wtcalovestory.be

a project by 431 (Lietje Bauwens and Wouter De Raeve) | produced by Daan Milius & Hans van Hezik for Video Power | image Pieter Dumoulin | music Jens Bouttery | sound Kwinten van Laethem | edit Caszimir Cleutjens |music Jens Bouttery | partners Kaaitheater, A+ architecture in Belgium, arp: | support The Arts and Heritage Agency of the Flemish Community, VGC, The ministry of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Regionresponsible for Mobility and Public Works, Provincie Limburg (NL) Gemeente Maastricht, Mondriaan Fonds, Jan van Eyck Academie | characters Lietje Bauwens, Mathieu Berger, Marie-Anaïs Bluteau, Kristiaan Borret, Gert Bouquiaux, Jan Denoo, Wouter De Raeve, Chaïma Ghaïda, Werner Joris, Mehdi Kassou, Sven Lenaerts, Ans Persoons, Freek Persyn, Arnaud Van Puyenbroeck, Pieter Torbeyns | actors Tom Adjibi, Kris Cuppens, Valentijn Dhaenens, Davis Freeman, Hervé Guerrisi, Stefan Jakiela, Heike Langsdorf, Hervé Piron, Janneke Remmers, Nathalie Rozanes, Stine Sampers, Peter Vandenbemt | special thanks to Daan Milius & Christopher Roth