A 2014 film graduate from the London College of Communication, French director Fanny Hoetzeneder utilizes a photographic approach to set pieces with an alternative narrative in her short films. Without dialogue, Belleville's disparate characters come together in an introverted tale of suburban living.
Inspired by the elaborately staged American photography of Gregory Crewdson, Philip-Lorca diCorcia and Larry Sultan, Hoetzeneder immerses you in her fictional day in the life, asking the viewer to connect the dots between the unfurling stories, from sunrise to sunset. “I’m a big fan of Crewdson’s Beneath the Roses series,” Hoetzeneder says. “I wanted to similarly explore the combination between the ordinary and bizarre sides of life. I made this piece to say something I find difficult to say in person. By this I mean the theme of Belleville, and my feelings towards it. Its constant stillness.”