After a long working day, 58-year-old cleaner Khadija falls asleep in the last metro. When she wakes with a start at the end of the line, she has no choice other than to walk home, halfway across Brussels in the middle of the night.
In his previous film, Hellhole, Devos revealed the upper echelons of the European melting pot that is his home town, Brussels, to be a rather dismal environment. In many respects, Ghost Tropic is a mirror image of that film. From the high life of the Members of the European Parliament we descend to life on the streets. At the same time, the downcast mood shifts towards something more hopeful. Because the threat you might expect never materialises.
Up-and-coming Flemish filmmaker Bas Devos shows us Khadija’s congenial meetings in a series of almost fairy-tale vignettes. The night owls she comes across often have little to offer, but still help her where they can. Khadija helps them out in return.
Film details
- Countries of production
- Belgium, Netherlands
- Year
- 2019
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2020
- Length
- 85'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
