Belleville Baby

Belleville Baby begins with a phone call from a long lost lover. He tells her he has spent a long time in jail and that he is trying to put the pieces of his life together. He asks her kindly if she could tell some of her memories from their common past. She is reluctant at first. Many years have passed and she leads another life now. She can’t remember their time together... or she doesn’t want to. But little by little, memories are coming back to her and she starts to tell their story.

She remembers the spring when they met in Paris, the riots, the Vespa and the cat named Baby. She also remembers that one day he disappeared, and that life changed.

The story is put together with Super 8 footage from now and then: his mobile phone images from Paris and her 16mm footage from Stockholm. The past, the present, memories and imagination are all linked together like a puzzle.

Tytti Rantanen

Director Mia Engberg will be introducing the film before the screening on Saturday 19 August. After the screening there will be a Q&A with the director.