Solitude Anjouan
Jean-Marc Turine
2020 - 52 min - Video Full HD - Couleur - Belgique

The Comoros Islands, former French colonies, gained their independence in 1975. The archipelago is composed of 4 islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mohéli and Mayotte, and it is as that entity that they are recognized by the United Nations. After the independence, France broke its promise and kept one island, Mayotte, within the boundaries of its Republic in the form of an Overseas Territory.
In 1995, Edouard Balladur, then Prime Minister of François Mitterrand's government, imposed a visa to Comorians wishing to travel to Mayotte. At least 15,000 people died in the 70-kilometre long stretch between the island of Mayotte and the Comorian island of Anjouan when trying to travel without a visa. In 2011, France granted Mayotte the status of a Department.
For 40 years France has been violating international law and has been condemned at the UN several times. The Organization of African Unity considers France an occupying power.
The film will attempt to highlight the complexity of the problem by filming a family that the filmmaker has known since living there back in 1981, one of the many "exploded" Comorian families, whose members reside on both sides of this illegal border.