A town, in the hostile desert, somewhere in Niger, near the Algerian border. Many plans of the town, the orange sand and the orange houses. We slowly discover the town, empty streets, wide panoramics of the colored homes, and a large factory in the back. What is this building ? We will learn that this is an uranium mine.
We are in Arlit, Niger. The uranium mine is still the first source of devises of the country (even if the . After its creation from scratch in 1969, the golden age lasted until the crash of the uranium price in 19xx. And the old men remember when the workers were richs, when they could eat in restaurants and when they had not to worry about future. Times have changed : the town, called « le deuxième Paris » by the locals, is now a ghost of its past. The mines have lowered the number of its miners (only 700 today, for the 80 000 population). The city has changed. Now, it's not more than a transit point in the long way from black Africa to Europe, for undocumented migrants. Why do you want to go to Europe ? "I know it's not perefet. But there is no job where i come from, and i don't want to stay, waiting for death without doing anything. I prefer to die on my feet, trying to do something". "And for my familly, it doesn't matter if i die in the desert. They won't know, they'll think i'm dead in Europe, that's what's important." And, watching the movement of migrants, the old miners are slowly dying of radiations. The « deuxieme Paris », created for the mines, is slowly becoming a ghost town, place of illegal business.
No off comment : only several people are talking, 6-7 regular intervenants and a few ponctual interview. The documentary lets an important place to view of places, children playing on caterpillars wreck, the colored houses (orange outside, blue inside). A few portraits ans interview, but the community is the true subject of the movie, and its history is sensible in every moment. The town looks alive, and the camera takes all its time to show Arlit, its colors, it's conception of time, the constrats of its inhabitants (people from all Black Africa, Nigerians, Touaregh).
« For me, there is no difference : I film a documentary as I would film a fiction feature. I don't think the esthetic is a weight for the documentary, on the contrary : I want to show what I saw, by any means possible ».
This movie recieved many distinction in international festivals. But in Europe, it was only distributed in Germany. The question of the distribution of major african movies is still critical. Making movies in Africa is difficult, bringing them to public is another adventure.
Arlit, deuxieme Paris
Documentary
By Idrissou Mora Kpai
2005
78 minutes
Niger & Benin
Produced by MKJ film : http://www.mkjfilms.com/films.php
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlit%2C_deuxi%C3%A8me_Paris
Among many distinctions :
Best Documentary of the 15th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival, Milan (Italia)
Best Documentary, TV5 Award in the 20th Namurs International French Speaking Film Festival (Belgium)
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