Join us for a special post-screening discussion with Valentin Noujaïm, in person.

The Defense Trilogy reimagines Dante’s Divine Comedy within the hypermodern labyrinth of Paris’s business district, La Défense. These films traverse Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, mapping the collision between monumental architecture and fragile humanity. The trilogy explores the violence of a system built on surveillance and alienation, while celebrating fleeting moments of tenderness and rebellion. Presented in partnership with the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

Program

Pacific Club is a nonfiction short that invokes an infamous club opened in a basement of La Défense. Azedine, 17 years old at the time, tells us the forgotten story of the club and of the generation that dreamed of integrating into France but that instead came face to face with racism, the AIDS epidemic, and other obstacles (2023, 16 minutes)

To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion focuses on Claire (Kayije Kagame), a businesswoman promoting a new skyscraper in La Défense and facing increasing scrutiny and isolation. The cold, grey offices amplify her loneliness, driving vivid dreams (2024, 14 minutes).

Demons to Diamonds follows strangers as they move through the streets like ghosts, bound by the invisible threads of paranoia. In the eerie glow of a collapsing city, destruction may be the only chance for rebirth (2025, 29 minutes).

About the filmmaker

Valentin Noujaïm m (b. 1991, France) graduated in screenwriting from La Fémis in Paris and was a guest student at the Stadelschule in Frankfurt am Main. Noujaïm’s work challenges dominant societal narratives, shedding light on the lives of individuals and historically marginalized communities. The cinematic worlds he creates reflect his commitment to exploring varied formats, including 16mm film, archival materials, digital footage, and special effects. His films have been selected by a number of prestigious festivals, including CPH:DOX, Visions du Reel, IFFR Rotterdam, and BlackStar Film Festival among others. In 2024, his film Pacific Club was shortlisted for the Cesar Award for best documentary. His work has also been featured in several group exhibitions, most recently at the Fondation Cartier (2025), Nimes Triennale (2024), and Museo Madre (2024). Noujaïm presented his first institutional solo show at Kunsthalle Basel in February 2025.

Image caption: Still from Valentin Noujaim’s Pacific Club, courtesy the artist and Oyster Films