• Ghost Tropic

Ghost Tropic

a film by Bas Devos
2019, 85 minutes


Synopsis

Khadija (Saadia Bentaïeb) is a fifty-eight-year-old Maghrebi cleaning woman living in Brussels in the wake of the 2016 bombings that shook the city. After work one night, she falls asleep on the last subway train, wakes up at the end of the line and has no choice but to make her way home—all the way across the city—on foot. Along the way, she has a series of encounters: with a security guard, a convenience store clerk, a group of teenagers. She asks for help and she gives it and slowly, steadily makes her way.

Director Bas Devos’ lightness of touch combines with the richness of Grimm Vanderkerckhove’s 16mm images to create a small wonder of humanistic storytelling. Ghost Tropic is a testament to the everyday drama of immigrant life and insists on the possibility of goodness and beauty, even in the dark of night.


Reviews


"Stunning... A delicate miniature that’s magnificently humanist, occasionally amusing and shot in a palette of rich, saturated nighttime hues... really great." - Boyd van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter

"Gorgeous… A witching hour-and-a-half that unfurls as gradually and un-threateningly as the sky lights up during dawn." -Ben Driscoll, Sight and Sound

"Hypnotic and haunting, one of the great visual achievements of the year." -Hannah Faris, Chicago Monitor

"A compressed epic… This poetic Belgian feature manages to say a good deal about life, death, and the state of the globalized world." -Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

"A film as gentle, sad and empathetic as an Edward Hopper painting." -David Perrin, MUBI Notebook

"Saadia Bentaïeb’s performance is a gem of minute gradations—every look, pause and reaction matters." -Tim Grierson, Screen Daily



Press Materials


High-Res Stills and Poster
Press Kit
Press Release



Where to watch


Click on theater below to buy ticket

Playdates

Aug 28 - Film at Lincoln Center - New York, NY
Aug 28 - Museum of the Moving Image - Queens, NY
Aug 28 - Acropolis Cinema - Los Angeles, CA
Aug 28 - Laemmle Theatres - Los Angeles, CA
Aug 28 - Brattle Theatre - Boston, MA
Aug 28 - Cinema Moderne - Montreal, QC
Aug 28 - The Cinematheque - Vancouver, BC
Aug 28 - Cleveland Cinematheque - Cleveland, OH
Aug 28 - The Lark Theater- Larkspur, CA
Aug 28 - Wexner Center for the Arts- Columbus, OH
Aug 28 - FilmBar - Phoenix, AZ
Aug 28 - Time & Space Ltd - Hudson, NY
Aug 28 - Lefont Film Society - Atlanta, GA
Aug 28 - Webster Film Series - St. Louis, MO
Aug 28 - Cape Ann Community Cinema - Gloucester, MA
Aug 28 - The Apohadion Theater - Portland, ME
Aug 28 - Naro Expanded Cinema - Norfolk, VA
Aug 28 - Darkside Cinema - Corvallis, WA
Aug 28 - a/perture cinema - Winston-Salem, NC
Aug 28 - Facets Cinematheque - Chicago, IL
Aug 28 - The Grand Illusion - Seattle, WA
Aug 28 - The Nightlight Cinema - Akron, OH
Aug 28 - Tallahassee Film Society - Tallahassee, FL
Aug 28 - Olympia Film Society - Olympia, WA

Sept 4 - Loft Cinema - Tucson, AZ
Sept 4 - Sie FilmCenter - Denver, CO
Sept 4 - Cinemapolis - Ithaca, NY
Sept 4 - Coral Gables Art Cinema - Coral Gables, FL
Sept 4 - Downing Film Center - Newburgh, NY
Sept 4 - Philadelphia Film Society - Philadelphia, PA
Sept 11 - Pickford Film Center - Bellingham, WA
Sept 11 - Belcourt Theatre - Nashville, TN
Sept 11 - Jacob Burns Film Center - Pleasantville, NY
Sept 11 - Cinema Detroit - Detroit, MI
Sept 11 - Tampa Theatre - Tampa, FL
Sept 11 - The Parkway Theatre - Baltimore, MD
Sept 18 - Oklahoma City Museum of Art - Oklahoma City, OK
Sept 30 - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - Houston, TX

Oct 2 - Amherst Cinema - Amherst, MA
Oct 9 - Moxie Cinema - Springfield, MO
Oct 14 - Madison Museum of Contemporary Art - Madison, WI
Oct 30 - Cornell Cinema - Ithaca, NY



Festivals & Awards


Official Selection - First Look - Museum of the Moving Image
Directors' Fortnight - Cannes Film Festival
Official Selection - Chicago International Film Festival
Official Selection - Rotterdam
Official Selection - Viennale
Official Selection - CPH PIX
Official Selection - Jerusalem Film Festival
Winner - Best Director - Cairo International Film Festival

Trailer




Related Films

Here

Bas Devos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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