In 1961, Philippe Bardinet produced a film commissioned by Peugeot, about the new Les Buis area, a model town in Valentigney, near Montbéliard, built to house the thousands of new workers and employees arriving from different regions in France, Italy, Spain or Algeria to work at the Peugeot factory in Sochaux. Though this film was a commission, it asked questions about the real nature of that kind of housing project that are still pertinent today: « Will the children and parents manage to adapt to such new conditions? Is it just a housing project or a real town? » « But man needs more than just to sleep and to eat. He needs … He needs … ».
It questions the younger generation’s position, integration, the role played by commerce, and has great cinematographic qualities.

In the meantime the area has changed a lot. The population has diminished, unemployment has increased, and there is a danger of ghettoisation. The Ideal City of 1961 seems distant.

50 years on, for the area’s anniversary, I produced a « mirror-film », to be projected opposite the original film, opposing the former images with those of today, showing run-down buildings or those about to be demolished, closed shops, but also the social life in the area, the children and youngsters, and images of spectators watching the film during the three public projections organised by the social and cultural service MJC. These projections were followed by discussions, mediated by Guy Vandeneeckhoute.

Special thanks to Maxime Fraissinet for his precious assistance.