Nuit obscure - Au revoir ici, n'importe où

Shot in powerful black and white, NUIT OBSCURE – AU REVOIR ICI, N’IMPORTE OÙ is Sylvain George’s second instalment of a diptych centred on the port city of Melilla. This Spanish enclave in Morocco is a border zone between Africa and Europe, with high rates of illegal immigration. Following a group of teenagers who attempt to cross to the European continent, the documentary captures the contradictions and contrasts that dominate the lives of those suspended in the limbo of immigration policies. George’s approach is both lyrical and political—paying special attention to bodies, architectures and their different scales.

Malik and his companions are discouraged by the lack of opportunities in their country and prefer to risk their lives than inhabit a land without future. Through a series of vignettes, we see their figures sculpted by the city lights. They hide utensils and blankets in sewers, get high, cook food, recount their fights with police, sleep in concrete and stone. Burning, savage, untamed, this tribe of outsiders subvert their status by playfully appropriating a city that rejects them—a city increasingly militarised, fortified, patrolled and surrounded by barbed wire. (Cristina Álvarez López)

In the presence of Sylvain George and Ottavia Fragnito (Producer).

Sylvain George: NO BORDER (2008), L’IMPOSSIBLE – PAGES ARRACHÉES (2009), QU’ILS REPOSENT EN RÉVOLTE (DES FIGURES DE GUERRE) (2010), LES ÉCLATS (MA GUEULE, MA RÉVOLTE, MON NOM) (2012), THE CLOUDS (MY BLACK MAMA’S FACE) (2014), VERS MADRID: THE BURNING BRIGHT (2014), NOCTURNE BLANC CHASSEUR (2015), NOCTURNE (2015), JOLI MAI (QUE CEUX QUI QUI ONT TUÉ MOINS DE CENT FOIS ME JETTE LA PIERRE) (2016), YOUSSEF, LE VENT LA RAGE AVANT L’EXISTENCE (2016), PARIS IS A MOVEABLE FEAST (A FILM IN 18 WAVES) (2017), NUIT OBSCURE – FEUILLETS SAUVAGES (2022)