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The Senegal River forms the national border between Mauritania and Senegal. In 1989, war broke out between these countries, along and around the river. Both sides committed atrocities. Senegalese filmmaker Alassane Diago was just a young child at the time. Now he brings together his “Senegalese and Mauritanian family,” all victims or witnesses of the bloodbath, so they can talk in detail about their traumatic experiences. He wants to find the truth, and to bring about reconciliation. Why did they slaughter each other, and why were so many people “deported”? Was there systemic racism involved, under the white and Arab elite? Was it a case of ethnic cleansing?
Avis de la communauté (1)
[IDFA '22] Through a meeting between members of the director's Senegalese and Mauritanian family, the need to break the silence around the border war between the two countries in 1989, marked by extreme violence, is established. The debate that is established is a kind of collective therapy whose verbalization of personal experiences serves as a way of exorcising demons. And despite its almost two hours duration, it does not feel lengthy because the thematic structure through the interventions is chosen with good judgment.