• Director(s):

    FEIST (HERADE)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTE GEIE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2017

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

It is a tower of Babel at the heart of Paris; a temporary refuge where about 300 French or foreign men, women and children have come. They hope to find a roof over their head and help to start a new life.
 

It is one of Le Corbusier’s architectural achievements inaugurated in 1933 for the Salvation Army. In this accommodation center that relies upon state funding entirely, the homeless are housed for an average of two years – each trying to bounce back and blend back in society. They try to find a long-term home, a job and – for the most vulnerable – seek asylum in France. 40% of the residents in this “Haven City” do not have identity papers.
Le Corbusier wanted to make this city a “greater good factory”, a dream, a 30s utopia. Nowadays, the Salvation Army simply wants to make it a refuge, a welcoming place to help the neediest in society. Our journalists were able to accompany some of its inhabitants and their assistants for a year.