With its drab apartment buildings, La Muette - located in the Paris suburb of Drancy - looks like a typical public housing complex. But in front of one of the horseshoe-shaped buildings, a railway freight car stands as a grim reminder that La Muette served as one of the first concentration camps of World War II - a camp run by the collaborationist Vichy regime.

Between 1941 and 1944, 67,000 Jews -- including director Daniela Zanzotto's grandfather -- were deported from Drancy to death camps. Only 2,000 survived.

IF THE WALLS COULD SPEAK juxtaposes the testimonies of those interned at Drancy - people who were starved, forced to sleep on filthy straw mats and to use outdoor toilets in groups of 20 - with the stories of current residents. For some, La Muette simply offered a good place to live after the war. For a younger generation - many of North African origin - the past is history. But they share a bond with the Jewish internees: a sense of exile in a France that does not quite accept them.

"It's a gem, very moving, wholly convincing"—Nicholas Fraser, Independents Commissioning Group, BBC

"Recommended! A masterful blend of changing ethnic groups, historical moments, and complex viewpoints of past and current events."—Educational Media Reviews Online

"Provides vibrant insight into the historical transformations of... La Muette... The history of La Muette explores the complications of identity, collective memory, and the socio-economic dynamics of racism. The cinematic bridge of Arabs and Jews in a changing yet fixed building underscores a French tradition of racism and aligns the history of two ethnic groups often perceived a disparate. Strikes a wonderful balance between the tragedies of history and the persevering human spirit... By connecting the Drancy survivors and victims with contemporary Parisians and immigrants, [the film] addressed the often neglected tie of the Holocaust to those living outside the Jewish community."—Al Jadid, A Review & Record of Arab Culture and Arts

"An important contribution to the cultivation of anti-racist memory."—Jim House, University of Leeds