Persona non grata

Prosecuted as a Revolutionary...
Banned as a Priest...
Arrested as a Rebel...
Celebrated as an Artist...
This is Frans Wuytack's truly inspiring and overwhelming story.

Persona non grata is the epic story of Frans Wuytack’s life. after thirty years of exile, he returns to South- america with his son, film director Fabio Wuytack. their overwhelming journey reveals the Venezuelan slums, where Frans unchained a social and cultural revolution as a young priest in the 60’s. a blend of humorous and touching characters from the slums take Fabio on a voyage through the maze of his father’s exciting past. the poetic film style lifts the story over the borders of a biopic and confronts us with some of the most important moments in the second half of the 20th century.

It is possible to recount a past one has not known without making it lifeless. It is possible for a son to sketch a portrait of his father without making a hero of him. In PERSONA NON GRATA, Fabio Wuytack (VdR 2005, MADE IN ITALY) accompanies his father, Frans, to Venezuela where the latter worked in the 1960s as a priest in the poorest neighbourhoods, the barrios (shantytowns) of Caracas. Close to the poor, Frans lives with them, in the same conditions, sharing his worldly possessions with them. Shocked by this poverty and refusing to believe nothing can be done, he embarks on a series of militant actions, demanding more equality between the different social classes and compromising his position with the Church. No matter ! People are suffering and he wants to help them without waiting for hypothetical political measures. Imprisoned seven times, always supported by the inhabitants of these barrios, he was finally expelled from the country in 1970; he had become persona non grata.
Two years later when working as a worker in the docks in Antwerp he created a disturbance with his militant actions demanding decent working conditions and had his ministry as a priest taken away from him by the Church. He then went back to Venezuela, helped by the guerrilla movement and was expelled once again.
The ban against him entering the country was lifted by Chavez in 2000 and Frans Wuytack returned to the neighbourhoods where he used to live with his filmmaker son. An opportunity to make a film revealing the personality and remarkable courage of this man.
Constantly influenced by the dynamics of movement, driven by the desire to share his father’s story and certainly motivated by admiration and pride, the filmmaker films the actors and the places from the past with movement and at a pace that conveys the strong presence of his father in the hearts of those who know him.
His filmmaking approach transcribes his desire to draw a straight line between the commitment, passion, tenacity and sincerity with which his father dedicated his life to the poor and the man as he is today. A man who dedicates his life to others, and whose generosity is only equalled by that of his son who pays this tribute to him.
Visions du Réel Nyon 2009