The filmmaker joins a perilous journey made by many young Africans across the Sahara into Libya. From here, they will cross to Italy.


"Fortune seekers" are what they call the many Africans who go off in search of a different, better life. Traveling from countries such as Libya, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria, they risk their lives on the dangerous sea crossing to Italy, portal to the prosperous West. The film begins with a meeting between Muammar Gaddafi and Silvio Berlusconi, where the two heads of state agree on how to contain the flow of migrants from Libya. In exchange for a large sum of money, Gaddafi promises to improve his border control and build more detention centers. Next we see a gorgeous shot of the Sahara, a trail of heavily laden trucks driving through it. On board are mostly young men on their way to Italy. Documentary filmmaker Alexandre Dereims is accompanying them on this perilous adventure. They have enough food and water for many days, but they explain with fear in their eyes that a breakdown in the desert could prove fatal. Dereims's interviews yield harrowing tales of many years of suffering along the way, interrupted only by profiteers and swindlers who maintain their own economy with promises of a better life. Libya, the gateway to the promised land, proves for many people to be a hell where Gaddafi denies them even the most basic human rights. Until spring arrives, that is…

Director: Alexandre Dereims
Screenplay: Alexandre Dereims
Photography: Sadel Ketab
Editing: Alexandre Dereims
Narration: Alexandre Dereims
Narrator: Peter Humi
Production: Matthieu Belghiti for Maha Productions
Involved TV: Channel France 5

Source: IDFA 2011
http://idfa.nl/industry/tags/IDFA2011.aspx?id=C5917E52-E12C-4787-91B6-CB6D967EFF97