Rive-Neuve, la nuit

“In 1996, someone I knew chose to come to Rive-Neuve to die, and spent six weeks in the hospital. I never wanted to see them while they was ill. I was afraid of a confrontation with suffering and death, as caring for someone at the end of their life brought me face to face with my own death. Only later on did I dare to take the step by taking part in the caring, which allowed me to discover the relationships built up at Rive-Neuve. I then decided to make this film to open up to the public eye an often dreaded world, by focusing above all on the relationships between patients and nursing staff, those relationships that take root as the night goes by. Why during the night? Because it is then that the notion of time undergoes a change, that the need for the presence of a fellow-being to fight off loneliness and anxiety is all the more strongly felt. The role of the people keeping watch becomes all-important, they are there to bring the necessary relief, not only from a medical point of view, but especially in terms of the time spent with each patient. The nursing staff bring all their sensitivity and spontaneity to bear on the situation. There are no longer any time limits: ‘they have all night’ “. (Aline Brechbühl)