Bronx-Barbès

Powerful and original feature that, more than many documentaries, provides an authentic look at life in the big cities of West Africa, in this case the slums of two ports on the Ivory Coast. The film-maker has a background as ethnographic documentary-maker and she has taken full advantage of this experience while working with non-professional actors on location in Abidjan and San Pedro. The protagonists in the film are Toussaint and Nixon, two kids who are forced by circumstances deeper and deeper into the underworld of the poor neighbourhoods dominated by gangs. First they seek refuge in the Bronx of Abidjan, but when things start getting too hot there, they flee to the Barbès ghetto of San Pedro. There too they come into conflict with their criminal surroundings. But after Barbès, there is no other district criminal enough to hide from other crooks. In this way, Toussaint and Nixon are virtually driven into the sea. They decide to try to escape to Europe as refugees on board a ship.After making several documentaries in the same region, De Latour has chosen for fiction, so she was able to condense her knowledge of harsh urban life in the Ivory Coast. Virtuoso acting with local slang in the dialogue is only one example of just how useful documentation can be for a successful portrayal. (GjZ)