Karim Akalay’s film “6TM” received the New Visions Award for the most promising European project at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival.
Set during a hot summer at Cité Modèle, the largest housing estate in Brussels, the story follows three intertwined narratives within a single family. Two children in the film search for a magic key to prevent a friend in a wheelchair from being evicted because of broken elevators.
A teenage girl in the narrative assembles a team of misfits to enter a soccer tournament, while a mother rallies her neighbours to find out who stole the rain.
The team describes it as a “Belgian family comedy in three chapters, rooted in magic realism and the resilience of a community.” Akalay, who was born in Cité Modèle, stated that the estate is one of the most symbolic housing areas in Brussels.
Akalay explained that “6T, pronounced ‘six-T,’ sounds like ‘cité,’ which means housing estate. The ‘m’ stands for ‘modèle.’ So ‘6TM’ simply means Cité Modèle, but it’s more than just an abbreviation. It’s the language of the people who live there. Writing it that way is how residents make the place their own. The film’s title comes from within the neighborhood, just like its stories.” By following three generations of one family, Akalay said he could demonstrate how the entire community resists in its own way.
He said he wanted to create a kind of “anti-social realism” to contrast with the Belgian tradition of social realism, which often portrays neighbors only through hardship.
Akalay stated, “The problems in ‘6TM’ are real: broken elevators, heat, people being pushed out. But the way the characters respond is joyful, funny and inventive. Magic – and a touch of manga – is how I show their imagination and strength.” Akalay said that while Gen Z in Belgium and France is angry, they also create music and images to transform that anger into something inventive and funny.
The project is currently in development and is produced by Walid Bekhti and Hanoulia Salamé for Centre Vidéo de Bruxelles. Filming for the project is scheduled for July 2027 with support from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Groupe Ouest and the New Dawn Fund.
