I Have Loved Living There (Régis Sauder, 2020)
Clergy, a 40-year-old ‘new town’ just outside Paris, was once considered a non-place. However, the people who make up the city would beg to differ. Guided by the prose of the writer Annie Ernaux, a one-time resident, and through the use of interviews with its inhabitants, coupled with cinematic shots of Clergy, director Régis Sauder makes a strong case against the stereotypical image of new towns as places that lack identity. As we meander through Clergy following the gentle gaze of Sauder, we learn that it is only a matter of time before places acquire a soul.