In late 1988, the staff of the Louvre Museum prepared for its reopening after the decade-long renovation project, ‘Grand Louvre'. Before its sacred antiquities could see daylight again, they would first need to be embraced by the hands of hundreds of conservators, exhibition technicians, curators, and cleaners. Louvre City unveils the everyday life of the institution, peering behind its solemn, cold exterior to offer a candid glimpse of its lively, humanity-filled core. Louvre City surveys the galleries, underground passages, and storage areas of one of the world’s finest museums. The film vividly depicts the relationship between the museum staff and the historical figures portrayed in the artworks for which they care, illuminating the human effort of striving for the eternal through art.

Nicolas Philibert (b. 1951, France) studied philosophy at the University of Grenoble before joining the filmmaking industry. Philibert worked as assistant director alongside directors René Allio and Alain Tanner. With Gérard Mordillat he co-directed his debut feature film, His Master’s Voice (1978), a documentary that converses with twelve owners of large French firms. His close study of French public institutions combined with a spontaneous approach has led to creating anthropological works, including In the Land of the Deaf (1992), To Be and to Have (2002), and La Maison de la radio (2013).