Listen to the Beat of Our Images

When Algeria gained independence from France in 1962, French president Charles de Gaulle urgently needed to find a new home for the CNES space center. Thanks to its ideal coastal position near the equator, he chose the little town of Kourou in the overseas territory of French Guiana. But no one gave a thought to the consequences of building a rocket launching facility on the local population living there.

Archive CNES footage of the construction of the space center and scenes from life in the new, modern Kourou are accompanied by an evocative soundtrack and voiceovers, shifting the perspective onto the people who until now have been rendered invisible. All that remains of the mesmerizing shots of rocket launches is pulsating stardust, as a reminder of what local people lost through their forced rehousing.