Close-Up Festival #5: *La Terre des vertus* by Vincent Lapize
© Close-Up Festival
A partner of the Close-Up festival since its inception, ENSA Paris-la Villette is organizing several screenings during this 6th edition, including this French by Vincent Lapize from 2024.
Q&A with the director.
Free admission while seats last.
Film synopsis:
The Vertus Community Gardens in Aubervilliers are facing developments related to the 2024 Olympic Games and pressure from real estate interests. As the Grand Paris project’s excavators loom, resistance is taking shape, and citizen-led initiatives are flourishing. An impressionistic and political film, *La terre des Vertus* chronicles the challenges and hopes of this “garden-world.”
Running time: 82 min.
Vincent Lapize has directed eight documentary films, including *Le Dernier Continent* in 2015. Most of his films are portraits of places undergoing change—places that are both threatened with destruction and sources of hope. *La terre des vertus* is his latest feature-length film.
Production: A PERTE DE VUE
Award: Honored at the International Earth Film Festival – Terra Doc – Bourges 2026
As part of the festival, ENSA Paris-la Villette will host screenings of four other films:
- Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.: Filming [in] Architecture. Students from the Paris-la Villette, Paris-Belleville, Paris-Malaquais, Paris-Val de Seine, Versailles, and Toulouse schools will present short films they created as part of their studies.
- Friday, November 20, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.: Of Dreams and Cement Blocks by Anne-Sophie Birot and Laetitia Douane, with the directors in attendance
- Friday, November 20, 2026, at 3:30 p.m.: Touching Earth by Jérémie Basset
- Monday, November 23, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.: Brunaupark by Félix Hergert and Dominik Zietlow
Screenings are open to everyone. Admission is free while seats last.
