The theme of immigration gets a different treatment in Seydou Cissé’s Taamaden (Traveler), which had its world premiere at Amsterdam’s documentary festival IDFA. This time, the angle is spiritual, as a young man named Bakary looks to his gods for luck as he heads to Europe. For some people, Bakary’s methods might be thought of as especially weird. But when you consider that everyone hopes for something better, is it so strange that this young man has put his faith for a better life in both a place—Europe—and in an unseen being?
Bakary’s quest to leave Mali is parsed along with a trio, Ouloulou, Baldé and Doucouré, who have succeeded in crossing over to Spain. All of them believe in God or in gods. After speaking with others who have made the impossible trek to Europe, one character says he’s convinced that a “marabout (Muslim holy man) and a seer can speed up the journey”.
All of these men are able-bodied; in fact Bakary, seen without a shirt, is impossibly well-built. The problem is not health-related. These are just young men who can’t dream of a future in their own country. One failed attempt to reach Europe is not enough to dissuade them; they will try again and again. There just isn’t anything for them to look forward to back home.
Cissé’s mode is a silent, uncommenting style, but he has chosen to get his subjects to talk alone or in groups. He also shows his subjects by the sea, where they make their gifts to their gods, mostly via the sacrificing of eggs. (Warning. If you are squeamish about the destruction of any entity remotely connected to animal life, Taamaden may be an especially harrowing watch.) Besides that, not much happens in this documentary. There may be multiple reasons for this: perhaps it’s the laid back nature of the subjects, perhaps it’s the setting—whatever the case, it does feel like a failing because the all-consuming need to flee Africa is widespread across the continent and has its own small, vibrant economy. Taamaden gets the subjects all right, but little of the vibrant atmosphere pervading this urge to flee their country and continent of birth comes through. What we are left with is a rather dour excursion into a sub-industry that in itself is actually incredibly lively.
Of course, there is a lot of spiritualism governing (or said to be governing) the lives of these young people—in which sense, their lives are similar to their countries—and that is what Cissé has covered. His documentary just doesn’t quite convey the vigorously physical component of the quest to leave their homes. Might that be a different film? Perhaps. Unfortunately, it just happens to also give a much more placid idea of the struggle by young people to escape the dysfunctional economy of their native countries. As it is, the water in which they make sacrifices to the unseen being is a lot more turbulent than anything else in the film. That may be poetic. But it could also be so noticeable because the film is quiet and dull in sections.
Nonetheless, Taamaden will find quite an audience at Western festivals, where the actions of these desperate young men come across as puzzling and maybe even intriguing. There is a smart juxtaposition of the humdrum lives of those who have crossed over to Europe and the persistence of those who keep trying to cross over from Africa, despite the peril, which ensures that the story is relatable for audiences on both sides of the sea and sand. Though it’s never really addressed head-on, there is a salient point Cissé’s film makes about the kind of people who get to use those lands for travel and who get to fly. As one young man puts it: “The air route isn’t for everyone. But the land route is open to all.”
Director, screenplay: Seydou Cissé
Production: STEPS, Neon Rouge Productions, Tara Group, Les Films du Bilboquet
Cinematography: Tarek Sami, Tiecoura N’Daou, Seydou Cissé
Editing: Wei Yuang Song
Sound: Arno Ledoux, Birama Coulibaly, Abdoulaye Dianka, Benjamin Pasternak, David Davister
In English, Wolof, Spanish, Bambara
Running time: 84 minutes
