L'homme-vertige

In the Chanzy neighbourhood of Pointe-à-Pitre, the economic capital of the Guadeloupe archipelago, bulldozers from demolition firm Avenir Déconstruction are pulling down residential blocks consigned to history. On nightly patrols L'homme-vertige : Tales of a City follows the city’s wanderers through the empty streets. These are dizzying circumstances. They all carry the wounds of this city within them and are now seers. Circulating throughout the internal and external spaces, both endangered, are the director’s empathetic conversations and relationships – with the lung-diseased former freedom fighter Ti Chal, with the crack addict Priscilla, with the wild, angry and then calmer Eddie, with the fish scaler Kanpèch. Even elegant Eric resists the inevitable dilapidation with his view of the city, his recitation of texts by Joël Beuze and Amílcar Cabral. Malaury Eloi Paisley: “And I ask myself why I feel the need to wander the streets of Pointe-à-Pitre.” (Madeleine Bernstorff)

Malaury Eloi Paisley, filmmaker and visual artist who works from her native island of Guadeloupe. She studied art history and museum studies before participating in the Ateliers Varan workshops in Guadeloupe in 2016, and an international workshop at EICTV in Cuba on the aesthetics of documentary film, where she made her first short film Chanzy Blues. She then embarked on a long-term project exploring the city of Pointe-à-Pitre, with L’homme-vertige Tales of a City, between 2017 and 2023.

Production Sophie Salbot. Production company Athénaïse (Montreuil, France). Director Malaury Eloi Paisley. Screenplay Malaury Eloi Paisley. Cinematography Malaury Eloi Paisley, Victor Zebo. Editing Marie Bottois. Music Magic Malik. Sound design Adam Wolny, Thierry Delor. Sound Ludovic Sadjan.

Films: 2017: Chanzy Blues (short documentary). 2024: L’homme-vertige / L’homme-vertige : Tales of a City (documentary).

Bonus Material