La permanence

In a dilapidated hospital consulting room on the outskirts of Paris, Dr. Geeraert welcomes people from the farthest reaches of society. Fugitives, those forgotten by the state or lost in bureaucracy and the impoverished receive free access to medical care. Supported by a psychologist, the patients not only find a safe place here, but also a place where they are perceived as fellow human beings and their traumatic stories are heard. Unobtrusively and with the greatest respect, director Alice Diop records the confidential consultations of those seeking help. In doing so, she carefully penetrates an otherwise invisible microcosm to find a unique refuge in an unforgiving world.