Les verdines d'Antoine

Taking as its starting point his "verdine" (caravan in the language of travellers), the animated documentary film portrays Antoine Wiertz, a member of the Traveller community. Now retired, he makes wooden caravans like the ones he spent his childhood in. He tells us about life on the road with his large family, the death of his father when he was fourteen and the need to provide for his family, his marriage and the birth of his children. As the nomadic life became less and less compatible with modern society, Antoine gradually settled down, not without regret; he currently lives in a house in the Belgian countryside but keeps trailers and a caravan to go back on the road whenever possible. This film tells the story of a changing lifestyle: the nomadic life, the small jobs (knife grinder, chair-rusher, barrel organ player,...), the search for land to settle on, the not always easy relations with the sedentary population, the fears, the hopes. This personal story plunges us into the struggle of a community to be recognised and legitimised in its way of life and its values.