The Woods Dreams Are Made of... With this title, we enter the realm of fairy tales, a magical place. And to lead us there, we have the slightly raspy voice of filmmaker Claire Simon, along with her camera—scrutinizing, never quite at rest, for it is in search of something, driven by a desire for others, for encounters. And what better way to spark an encounter than to start by stepping outside, walking or hopping on a bike… There are in fact very few cars in this film—only the distant hum of traffic. We are sheltered from the modern outside world, noisy and exhausting in the long run. Here, for all the beings who inhabit this film, it is a haven within a sprawling metropolis. It is the Bois de Vincennes in Paris, but it could just as easily be New York, London, or Montréal. It is a utopia, but a real one, one that actually works, as Gilles Deleuze’s daughter tells us. Claire Simon interviews her as she returns to the site of the experimental University of Vincennes—now completely demolished—where her father taught philosophy according to an innovative democratic model, as a worthy heir to the spirit of 1968: open to everyone, with or without degrees, offering unconventional hours to better accommodate working people and a flexible, individually tailored curriculum. Only the old trees remain, still standing, remembering. And this film, standing tall as well, teaches us to do the same and to keep moving in the right direction through this mad world, because, as Deleuze put it, “if my walk is a walk, I am no longer an I, I am an event” (Deleuze, always). So there is only one thing left for me to say: enjoy your walk!

Emmanuel Bernier
Artist, ornithologist, and Head of Acquisitions at Tënk

Share this film