Dominique Santana invites us on a rich journey of more than a century of stories shared between the Luxembourg mining basin of the Esch region and the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It is a complex and founding story, never before really told or in any case not with such depth. The work accomplished by the young historian, who is herself on the trail of her Brazilian origins, is a master stroke that comes at the right time.

Indeed, the town of Esch-sur-Alzette, the cradle of the "Terres Rouges" ("Minett" in Luxembourgish), which for years was home to one of the largest steel-making centres in the world, has just received the prestigious label of European Capital of Culture 2022. For the occasion, the Belval blast furnaces have been converted into a vast exhibition centre whose programme revisits - among other things - the industrial past of the Grand Duchy. Among the artistic devices deployed, two physical platforms called "[L]aço" (a play on the French words for "link" and "steel") have been set up, linking two countries more than 10,000 km apart: kiosks equipped with a digital telephone booth to communicate between Luxembourg and the town of João Monlevade, 100 km west of Belo Horizonte in Brazil. The initiative is part of the A colônia luxemburguesa project, presented at the Luxembourg City Film Festival and now accessible free of charge on its website, which also includes a website with an interactive documentary.

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First founded by the French pioneer Monlevade, who gave his name to the place, the town welcomed many Luxembourg workers on the American continent until it became a true Grand Ducal colony, an incongruity that surprises as much as it fascinates. It all happened under the sole impetus of one man, Louis Ensch, renowned for his tenacity and his vision of the future. A builder with endless ambitions who forged Brazil's first integrated steel company at the beginning of the last century, which quickly became one of the largest production centres in South America. The Luxembourg native was commissioned by the giant Arbed - now ArcelorMittal - to set up a subsidiary on the continent called "Companhia Siderurgica Belgo Mineira".

Classified by theme, and following an impeccable chronology, the human adventure of Monlevade is told by Dominique Santana's camera, which seeks out the small stories in the great industrial narrative of the time. Slavery, colonialism, the hierarchical and social organisation of the community, the place given to women and to the education of the younger generations, political crises and rifts linked to the Second World War (the Luxembourgers were at one time perceived by the Brazilians as "Nazis"): the big and small moments of the city built from scratch in the heart of the forest are all dealt with here.

To illustrate the testimonies of the descendants of Luxembourg pioneers, the documentary and its interactive installations use numerous archive images, such as those of the official visit of HRH the Hereditary Grand Duke Jean in June 1942. "Monlevade was Luxembourg," but what remains of it today? The documentary and its installations attempt to answer this question with tact and delicacy: a journey that is as engrossing as it is fascinating.

Produced by Samsa Films under the direction of Bernard Michaux, the project is supported by the Film Fund Luxembourg, the Fonds National de la Recherche at the University of Luxembourg and developed in co-tutelage with the University of São Paulo in Brazil.