The Last Shelter
Ousmane Samassekou
2021 - 85 min - Video Ultra HD - Couleur - France, Afrique du Sud, Mali

The House of Migrants in Gao, Mali, is a refuge at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. It welcomes those in transit towards Algeria in the north, or on their way back after a failed attempt to make it to Europe.
When Esther and Kady, two teenage girls from Burkina Faso, arrive to regain the strength to continue their journey, they form a friendship with Natacha, a migrant woman in her forties whose memory fainted over the years, along with her hopes of regaining her home.
The trio finds a semblance of family life, sharing moments of joy, hope and tenderness. But the girls can’t shake the dream of a future abroad, even when their journey collides with the ones who came back, burdened by failure and trauma.
The house, like a rampart made of fragile walls, can hardly resist the call of the desert, its distant murmur whispering stories of dreams and nightmares.

Amitié | Désert | Émigration | Portrait | Réfugiés | Solidarité | Mali


Author-Director : Ousmane Samassekou
Photography : Ousmane Samassekou
Sound : Adama Diarra, Jean-Marc Schick
Editing : Céline Ducreux
Original Music : Pierre Daven-Keller
Delegate Producer : Les Films du Balibari
Co-producer : Steps
Co-producer : DS Productions
Broadcasting Co-producer : ARTE GEIE

Distribution


Distributor : Steps

Distinctions

2021 - CPH:DOX - Copenhagen international documentary film festival, Copenhague (Danemark) : Sélection
2021 - Hot Docs - Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto (Canada) : Sélection
2021 - DOK.FEST Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München, Munich (Allemagne) : Sélection
2021 - États généraux du film documentaire, Lussas (France) : Journée SCAM