0.0
-- THINGS
OF THE AIMLESS WANDERER, Ruhorahoza
Kivu
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A film about suicide that is in equal parts monotonous and
pretentious. A reporter in Rwanda meets a young woman who
he falls for, but like so many other African women who get
pregnant, she disappears. Was she kidnapped or murdered?
He talks about pregnant young women who commit suicide by
drowning. In this young women’s case, we really do not know,
but she does wrap herself in sticky packing tape in the
jungle. That is where the film ends. Interminably long pauses
and close ups whose only effect is to create yawns from
those watching make this work a joke. Such a serious subject
handled with no dramatic action, and therefore intrigue
and interest score pitiably low in this film.
2.4
-- LES PUITS,
Lofti Bouchouchi
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In southern Alergia, women and their children are dying
of thirst, but to get to the well, they have to transgress
a small foot bridge that will bring them certain death;
French soldiers will shoot them if they leave the village,
and the women know this. Despite an Algerian young man's
attempt to mislead the nasty gang of snipers towards another
village -- he is tortured on the spot to talk, but lies,
nothing is working out in the Algerians’ favour. The music
was excellent but suspense was weak. Too much talking; not
enough action and a tad melodramatic. It seemed staged.
1.2
-- RENAÎTRE,
Jean-François Seguin
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
This short naively shows a Tunisian woman who travels to
meet her lover who lives far away from her only to find
out he is married. She’s still a virgin, but can you convince
him to change that? Despite the physical appeal of the two
people. The 24-minute film is forgettable.
1.3
-- ITAR
EL LAYAL (THE NARROW FRAME OF MIDNIGHT), Tala
Hadid
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Too many blurred and confusing scenes that do not clarify
where the characters are as each is on his own mission:
one is obsessed with tracking down his brother who apparently
is somewhere dead in Iraq; the other is on his way in a
car; he is going to travel far to sell the girl whom he
abuses, along with his girlfriend. Despite the depressive
mood in this film, there are lovely lyrical moments where
nature shots and tranquility rise above the nasty, but not
enough for overcome the film's lack of emotional impact.
That being said, the final shot of a sea of women in black
burqas – each holding an identity card naming their missing
beloved – an assumption we make – as these women are heading
to a huge series of circular arches on one site (most likely
morgues) is most powerful. The acting of the little girl
was excellent. The ending presents a double-edged sword.
A 2016
Vues
d'Afrique film
that was screened at Sundance Festival.
3.1
-- DEAD
LEAVES, Younes Reggab
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A slow building suspense that introduces Zahara, a dancer
in charge of overseeing a performance to take place weeks
away, but ruinous deception and trauma from her past and
now in her life set her on a course that puts her on trial,
and ironically initiates a renewed life for her but the
shocking ending is one of the biggest surprises, along with
the sinister man with a facial scar who may or not be the
hero or enemy in this interesting film. A variety of camera
angles that reveal main character’s mental state recall
the work of Hitchcock, but despite the sudden violence in
this film, and the evocative music, no one was compelled
to bite their nails or block their eyes. The psychological
plot misleads and fools us all. Only in the film’s final
moment as the camera pans upward to a building that reveals
its name, can we piece it together. Redemption and resolution
result in a satisfying but sad result for Zahara and others.
This was the Moroccan director’s first feature.
2.2
-- ASHA,
Nanji
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Asha's
husband is taken away by the police in the fields where
he is working. His name is not the "right" name for the
tribe in power. People are being taken in Kenya, and never
return. When her husband is taken away, she sings a song.
A little boy is with them. Fast forward, and a policeman
demands to see her ID. She begins to sing the same song
she did decades ago. This man was the little boy in the
field with them that fateful day.
3.4
-- GONE
TOO FAR, Rim Mejdi
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A hilarious comedy coming out of Nollywood (Nigeria’s version
of Hollywood). Yemi’s older brother from Nigeria comes to
live with rebellious Yemi and his mother in London, but
both bros are in complete conflict, mainly because Yemi
denies his Nigerian origin. Despite the fact they are brothers,
they have nothing in common. We find out that Jamaicans
hate Africans – at least in the neighbourhood of Peckham
where the family lives. Fights, flirtations and an angry
mom trying to tame Yemi and teach him to be a good younger
brother make up this really funny film. Eventually, the
very things that drive them apart cause a climactic event
that truns his brother into a kind of hero. Yemi begins
to respect his Nigerian brother, while discovering that
the girl he liked is bad news. Entertaining with its own
important message about racism and family derision and division,
Gone
too Far is a cute feature that automatically recommends
her next film.
2.4
-- EN DEHORS
DE LA VILLE, Rim Mejdi
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A Moroccan woman tries to have an abortion in a car dump
place, but the woman who is supposed to do it changes her
mind. A short but an interesting one – thanks to the acting
and irony the characters display.
2.2
-- SAGAR,
Rim Mejdi
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A Moroccan woman is cradling her baby as it cries. The husband
is sick and tired of the crying, drugs his wife with a needle.
When she wakes up the baby is gone, and the husband and
his mom are complicit in the disappearance. This well acted
short was nevertheless a bit short on substance.
3.3
-- LA FORÉT
SACRÉE, Camille Sarret
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In the villages of the Ivory Coast, and in so many other
African countries, clitoral
mutilation of young girls is practiced, and the
women who carry out this cultural catastrophe are proud
of the tradition and occurrence; now the girls have "crossed
over." However, Martha Diomandé, a married 30-year-old woman
who resides in France, and who was mutilated in her village
has returned to her village with a French health professional.
Both are intent on trying to teach the irreparable damage
the practice causes to women's health and the horrid difficulty
and complications during labour. The women who perform the
mutilation are trained by an elder, but they gather in a
group to receive their lesson and the dangers in the practice.
The teaching is sensitively handled. It is an age-old tradition
that does not go away easily. An excellent documentary.
3.7
-- CHOUCHA,UNE
INSONDABLE INDIFFÉRENCE, Sophie Bachelier & Djibril Diallo
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In Tunisia, Camp Choucha in the desert is without water
and food, and those living under tents there -- if lucky
enough -- are granted refugee status, and they get money
and nourishment. However, most are denied the status. People
there come from all over Africa, trying to escape wars and
famine. The High Commission for Refugees is a joke, and
a shameful one at that. Murders happen, and no one investigates
from the organization. The unlucky people trying to survive
in Choucha have been there for over two years. Those who
got in are held in detention centres in Europe. This film
documents the shameful, horrific heartbreak for those stuck
there and for those of us watching, unable to rescue them
though we desperately want to. Only 49 minutes in length,
the film inserts the camera directly into the barren camp
as the camp people living there reveal their suffering.
A riveting documentary.
1.9
-- LES FRONTIÉRES
DU CIEL, Chabel El Janna
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Sami and Sara are a couple in turmoil. The husband leaves
Sara; he is grief stricken, and becomes a chronic drinker.
Why? Sami was negligent; it seems their little daughter
Yasmine drowned; it was his fault for not watching her.
We do not see this, but through a series of terrible editing,
our own piecing together and flashbacks, we figure it out.
This Tunisian film is so long and boring. In the end, we
do not care if the couple ever reunites. I dare to say this,
as the work has garnered several awards.
