Atlantiques | Mirages

Atlantiques

Drama, D: Mati Diop, France / Senegal 2009, 15 min, Wolof with English subtitles

Three men sit around a camp fire in the desert at night, talking about their desire to leave Senegal for a better life on the other side of the water. Serigne tell the others about his attempt to cross the Atlantic as a stowaway – and he recounts his own death. A film like a dark poem in the night. Named best short film at the Rotterdam Film Festival 2010.

Mirages

Documentary,D: Olivier Dury, France 2008, 46 min, French with English subtitles

40 men aboard two totally overcrowded jeeps battle with the desert – and its vast expanses, its cold nights, searing heat and blinding sandstorms. “Mirages“ accompanies a convoy of migrants on a journey of almost a 1000 kilometers through the Sahara, from Agadez in Niger to the Algerian town of Djanet. The viewer may not find out the exact reasons why each of these individuals chose to embark on this grueling journey – but the film does show images that stand for the destinies of many refugees. Winning film at the Documentary Film Festival FID Marseille.