El Hadj is studying in Paris. He is one of the young Senegalese men who have come to Paris since the French colony became independent to get a good education so that he can serve his fatherland on his return. Unexpectedly he is suddenly confronted by a problem with his residence papers, just because he has arranged an extension too late. His pleasant life filled with good prospects has gone in one fell swoop. He faces a dilemma. He can stay illegally in France, the country where he feels at home, where he has his friends, has fallen in love and can drink water from the tap. Or he can return (without graduating) to the 3rd-world country of Senegal to use the knowledge he has acquired. It is not only a practical choice. It comes down to the question of who he is, who he thought he could be.
Acting
Djolof Mbengue's restrained, heartbreaking stillness
Direction
Gomis lets silence do the screaming
Writing
A paper crisis that exposes an existential wound
Director
Alain Gomis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gomis, son of a Senegalese father and French mother, based this on real experiences of African students in 1990s Paris. The film was shot in actual immigration offices with non-professional actors mixed in.
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