Can a city be more than just the setting of a film? When does the topographical reality of streets and buildings, the rhythm and habits of its inhabitants, become film material, a true subject for fiction? Are we then painting the portrait of a city or are we redrawing according to our filmic needs? The representation of Detroit in film stands at the crossroads of these questions. A decaying, even dying city, it is the stage both for films that show its past and present agony (RoboCop, 8 Mile) and ones that today poeticise and symbolise its ruin (Lost River, It Follows). A maze with no exit, the streets of Detroit are inhabited by ghosts, powerless witnesses to the predicted disaster. Through detailed analyses of film extracts, we’ll see how Detroit combines an imagery of ruins and ghostly survival, at the meeting point of cinema history, genres and myths.

Renan Cros lectures on film and TV for universities and private organisations. He is also a journalist and critic for the magazine Cinemateaser.