TO BE LOVED BY WHOM
O.V. in French, Russian subtitled in English and Spanish
A far cry from sordidness, pity or spectacle, this film approaches the subject of sex work in a new way that clearly positions itself on the side of women. By hybridizing fiction and documentary, Barbelin opens a door into the experience of a group of migrant workers in Brussels: their shared moments of daily life, of group unity outside the brothel, and their nights at the club (which, in Fassbinderian stylization, are depicted transparently) are interwoven with the cell phone recordings of one of them. The object of the gaze thus becomes the subject, beyond the triviality to which male desire reduces it, to examine closely the "titty bar" and address the vulnerability and helplessness of those on the other side.
Direction: Emily Barbelin
Cinematography: Rui Poças, Camille Sultan
Editing: Lucas Furtado
Sound: Thierry Delor, Floxel Barbelin
Born in 1987, Emily Barbelin is self-taught. Director of a street theatre troupe for 10 years, she also assisted director Matthias Langhoff and worked with the Russian troupe from the Kolyada Theatre in Yekaterinburg. To Be Loved By Whom is her first feature film, self-produced and directed thanks to the complicity of the cinematographer Rui Poças and the support of Béla Tarr as well as the people who have surrounded her since her early theatre days.
