BRUSSELS - 'Back to Bled' is a contemporary story about the connection between the city and the countryside, starting in multicultural Brussels. The core of the documentary is friction; friction between city and countryside, ecology and economy, healthy versus cheap, connected versus uprooted.
The corona crisis has raised questions among many people about our contemporary lifestyle and what role food plays in it. During the lockdown, articles regularly appeared on 'how to live differently, consume differently, produce more sustainably'. Local farmers saw their turnover increase, many new customers suddenly saw the short chain light.
At the same time, especially in the cities, it became clear how a large group of people were dependent on food distribution.
The news, if it ever came out, was less hopeful and painfully exposed the weak spots in our society. Where one saw hope and the chance to do things differently and better from now on, the other saw themselves sinking deeper into the web of problems.
Lisa Matthys and Lotte Knaepen follow the trail of our food together with some young people from Molenbeek, who are also in their own way looking for more connection. They explore how food can be the ultimate lever to rethink our relationship with each other and with the planet. They set off together from their 'bled', their world and their vision of society. Along the way, they stop at the field of an activist farmer, compare prices in an organic shop and meet some Brussels food experts. They discover the principle of agroecology, a movement that seeks to produce food in cooperation with nature, that wants to be viable in the long term for the land, the environment and the farmers. And wants to show solidarity with all city dwellers.
ONLINE/PODCAST (in Dutch)
Back to Bled, Apache, 27/05/2021.
