ONCE

of MORELLO Lilian

ARGENTINA, FRANCE, 1999, 00:52:00

Production : CICV PIERRE SCHAEFFER, MORELLO Lilian
Genre : Fiction
Keyword : Fiction, Society, City

Summary :
The world according to Anita : on her way to Singapore, Anita recalls her brief stay in the neighborhood of "El Once" (Onze), a place full of wonders. But what is this twelve-year-old girl doing between "El Once" and Singapore ? The sudden sickness of her grandmother has forced her to join her parents, who work on a merchant ship that is sailing towards Singapore. However, all that is much less important to her than the labyrinths of "El Once", through which her uncle Caesar, like a blurred Theseus, is going to guide her.
"El once" is the mixture of a traditional neighbourhood, with humble Jewish and Armenian shopkeepers, pushed away by the new Chinese and Korean immigration, and a refuge for the outcast, for travelling salesmen, jobless people, beggars, prostitutes and transvestites. It is also a place where the preachers of various sects operate. They welcome Bolivian, Chilean and Paraguayan immigrants and tell them that if the city is hell, heaven will be paradise. As Anita flies to Singapore, she recalls her days in "El Once" and realizes that her journey has been a revelation : a ritual of passage through a chaotic, lively and ever-changing world. A world that frightens, baffles and confuses many people... but not Anita. She is a curious and fearless young girl, and she flies to Singapore with the thought that, most certainly, "El Once" is a much more fabulous, funny and exciting place than that distant city where she is to join her parents.

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