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Atlantiques
Atlantiques (Mati Diop, 2009)

    Atlantiques

    Mati Diop, France, Senegal, 2009, 16’

    On the beach, gathered around a fire, a group of young Senegalese men discusses a possible attempt to cross the ocean to Spain. Mati Diop’s experimental documentary Atlantiques is a precursor but also a narrative sidestep to what would become her feature debut, Atlantics, ten years later. 

    The two men who speak up the most debate whether the dangerous journey is worth it. Can one find work in Europe? They discuss a previous, failed journey, as well as harsh economic realities and their spiritual beliefs. Diop contrasts the darkness that surrounds them with sometimes blinding light, emphasising the crux of the conflict between a bleak home and the allure of the unknown.

    Bio Mati Diop

    French-Senegalese actress and filmmaker Mati Diop (1982) directed the film Atlantics in 2019. It made her the first Black female director in contention for the Cannes Film Festival’s highest prize, the Palme d'Or. Instead, the film won the Grand Prix.
    453
    • This film was #37 in the “Greatest” Short Films of All Time 2025
      voted by Emily Wright, Andréa Picard, Elspeth Vischer, Delphine Jeanneret, Clara Helbig, Peter van Hoof, Jason Anderson
    documentary politics drama

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    Ours is a Country of Words

    Mathijs Poppe, Belgium, Lebanon, 2017, 42’

    Filmed in Shatila, a refugee camp built in Lebanon when thousands of Palestinians fled their country in 1948. At an undetermined moment in the future, the refugees’ dream of returning to Palestine becomes a reality.

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    Cyclepaths

    Anton Cla, Belgium, 2023, 12’

    On the outskirts of the city, the new modern buildings are silent, and the motorway bridge drones. Birds are circling in the sky, and a young man, concealed by his hoodie, is riding his e-scooter along a park path. The only irritating element is the rifle over his shoulder. Cyclepaths conveys a mood of high alert, even though the disaster has, in fact, already happened.

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    Old Child

    Elettra Bisogno, Hazem Alqaddi, Belgium, Palestine, 2019, 16’

    Old Child depicts the fragmented story of Hazem, who had to flee Gaza. Throughout this stream-of-consciousness montage of dreams and reminiscences, he searches for order but also for the beauty he left behind.

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    On Its Way Down

    Sebastian Schaevers, Belgium, 2022, 22’

    Zinal, a small town in the Swiss Alps, looks straight up toward the melting glaciers of the Couronne Impériale. The townspeople struggle with nihilistic indifference. When the threat is so immediate, and their powerlessness so great, can their response be anything other than cynicism? Then a paraglider falls mysteriously from the sky, and Zinal starts to change.

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