LA MURAILLE
THE OTHER WORLD
Callisto McNulty / France, Switzerland / 2025 / 65 min / Colour
Italian premiere
Leprosy has long been associated in the collective imagination with fear of contagion and the monstrous disfigurement it causes in those affected. Lepers have thus always been marginalized and confined. Built in 1905 in an isolated location in the mountains of southeastern Spain, the Fontilles sanatorium was encircled by a wall separating the world of the sick from that of the healthy. After discovering and reading hundreds of “letters from the other world” written by a Jesuit priest during his visits to the sanatorium in the early 20th century, the filmmaker traveled there to meet with patients, doctors, staff, and residents of the small village of Campell. Their testimonies reveal the persistent stigma surrounding the disease and the inner lives of those affected by it. The sanatorium—still home to some leprosy patients today—is described not only as a place of isolation, but also as a home where many felt welcomed. In this light, the wall that once served as a boundary begins to lose its divisive meaning and becomes, instead, a space for human connection.
Callisto McNulty
Born in 1990, she holds both Swiss and French citizenship. She studied Communication at the University of the Arts, and Sociology and Culture at Goldsmiths University, both in London. She co-directed her first film, Eric’s Tape, in 2017. Delphine and Carole (2019), which premiered at the Berlinale Forum, was named Best French Documentary by the Syndicat Français de la Critique du Cinéma.
