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La force diagonale + ScreenTalk with Annick Leroy, Maria Palacious Cruz and Julie Morel (12)

Experiments in Film

,Cinema 3
A woman holding something to her face

A journey across Europe gathering portraits of people and places marked by history and resilience, by Annik Leroy and Julie Morel.

Four intimate portraits of trauma and transformation. From Sarajevo, a woman recalls driving a tram hit during the 1990s siege, to Görlitz, where a Belgian man remembers postwar discrimination, and Belgium, where a Kinshasa-born opera singer speaks of loss and belonging—the film collects voices that turn pain into creation. 

Inspired by Hannah Arendt's writing, the film reflects our capacity to bring something new into a world shaped by trauma and transformation. 

Structured in two parts, La force diagonale presents four portraits in dialogue with Arendt’s thought, shifting into movement through Claire Vivianne Sobottke’s powerful performance, with by readings by Claudia von Alemann and others. 

A meditation on art, memory, and renewal, the film evokes the ghosts of Europe’s past while affirming the enduring force of human creativity. 

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Film information
  • Release year   2023
  • Country of origin   Belgium
  • Director   Annick Leroy and Julie More
  • Runtime   2hr 25mins

Ticket prices

Standard
£14
* Excludes £1.50 booking fee

Booking fees

£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.

No fee when tickets are booked in person.

Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.

Annik Leroy is a cinematographer and director. Among her most important works are the films Vers la mer (1999), TREMOR. Es ist immer Krieg (2017) and installation Meinhof. 3 (2008). Somewhere between speculation and reality, her works explore the dark areas of European history. She taught at ERG and LUCA Hogeschool Sint-Lukas.

Julie Morel is a visual artist and filmmaker who made installations as well as shorter films that were shown at Argos Brussels, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Kunstraum Bethanien, Arte… La Force diagonale (2023) is her first feature film as a co-writer and co-director. Julie Morel has been teaching at ERG in Brussels since 2019. 

María Palacios Cruz is a film curator, writer and educator. She is currently the director of Open City Documentary Festival in London. She was previously deputy director of LUX (London) and director of the Courtisane Festival (Ghent). Between 2017 and 2021 she led the Film Curating course at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in San Sebastian (Spain). She has edited anthologies of writings on and by British artists Lis Rhodes, Sandra Lahire & Alia Syed. Together with Erika Balsom, Beatrice Gibson and Ben Rivers, she programs The Machine That Kills Bad People, a bi-monthly film club at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

Cinema 3

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.