From Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah, Dogman, Tale of Tales) comes this searing tale of two young boys’ migration traversing city, desert and ocean, from West Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.
Two Senegalese teenagers, Seydou (the captivating, award-winning Seydou Sarr, who also contributed several songs to the film’s soundtrack) and Moussa leave Dakar for Italy. On a journey neither of the boys could have anticipated, they experience the dangers and the beauty of the desert, the shock of detention centres in Libya, and the perils of the sea in their pursuit of a better life.
Highly emotional and honestly felt, this is a story of epic scale, but one which doesn’t lose sight of the individual human stakes of the migrant crisis and the intensity of the suffering it propagates. During its premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival (where it won silver), the film received a standing ovation of 13 minutes. It was also nominated for Best International Feature at the Oscars last month.
This film is programmed by Buxton Film and features no trailers.
Cast: Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall, Issaka Sawadogo
Director: Matteo Garrone