Babelville

HERITAGE AWARD

Belleville, in northeast Paris is currently being demolished. The renovation, actively backed by the City council, implies the disappearance of the entire social fabric and human physionomy of an old working class district. A grim reality, particularly for the old people who have always lived there, the small shopkeepers like Fanfan Lajoie and the dozens of immigrants whose income makes it impossible for them to continue living in an area on which they have left the imprint of their tradition and culture.