AFRYKAMERA
AZA KIVY (MORNING STAR)
Watchable. It takes time to realise what the film is about. It provides half the facts we know from last year's "Stolen Fish" but lasts 77 minutes instead of Gosia Juszczak's 30. In between the lines it states quite clearly how the economic colonisation of Africa by China is possible: "We, poor people, steal from one another". Yet here the community decides: "Our children should not be blamed" and is fighting back against Base Toliara - the Chinese mining company damaging the environment and livelihood of the fishermen. Eponymous 'kivy' means 'courage'. The people set the example of how to oppose foreign giants so the documentary is quite uplifting. Set against the struggle is their culture, landscapes with endemic plants, oxen, food habits, happy lives on the sea, underwater hunting. Interestingly, the condoms which the men carefully pack at the beginning turn out to be used to protect torches in water - a superb idea. Lovely cinematography is the highlight: beautiful pictures of milky blue waters off the Madagascan coast, exotic fishes and other sea creatures. Local music sounds good too.
Seen online, cinematic reception might differ.
MARCHER SUR L'EAU (ABOVE WATER)
Recommended. The documentary's shot in Niger so you get to see traditional architecture, attires, lifestyle, bleating goats, Fulani cattle care methods, Islamic beliefs, hierarchy in the family, though the village of Tatiste is quite progressive. Beautiful cinematography, delightful clothes, pleasant music, stunning, even if arid, landscape engulf you. Mesmerising pictures in this tale on climate change let you acquaint yourself with and take delight in the nature and culture of the region from as close as if you were living with the protagonists' family. The documentary also shows how the change of just one element influences the economic, family and social reality. The scarcity of water alters their lives completely: food supply, cleanliness, family life, safety, school, wildlife. But the film conveys a constructive message that we're not helpless when faced with environmental challenges.
Seen online, cinematic reception might differ.
As I was in the documentary jury and three Honourable Mentions were awarded, I'd best clarify that each came from a different juror and this one was from me.
FAHAVALO, MADAGASCAR 1947
Watchable. The documentary presents the little known historical events of the 1947 fight for the independence of Madagascar. Contemporary testimonies by the elderly are intertwined with archive footage. Magic mixes with weaponry in their accounts - the uprising was typically African. But so many details they provide are names which mean nothing to outsiders that it's hard to follow. There's a mid-credit.
Seen online, cinematic reception might differ.
The 2021 festival was characterised by everything being too late: schedules, even the catalogue was delievered to the cinema one week late.
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