Documentary
Mobutu, Roi du Zaïre
Film informations
Thierry Michel
“Three things dispel melancholy from the heart: water, pasture land and friendly faces.” Moorish proverb.This is the story of men and women of dust, a story of children with a thousand and one memories. Mohammed, warrior chief and descendant of the great nomads, lives in Bassikounou on the south-east borders of Mauritania. Once a nomad, Mohammed used to navigate “by dead reckoning”, following the rain clouds and finding undetectable wells for himself, his tribe and his livestock. Existence was based on seasonal migrations. Life had meaning only through the perpetual movement. Today, they have been forced to stop and make the painful discovery of sedentary life.Léon is a farmer in Etikhove in the Flemish Ardennes of Belgium. At 63, he has never left his 28 hectares of land. One day, he is asked to part with an old mower that had belonged to his father. He agrees but decides to follow the machine to its destination. The journey takes him to Bassikounou.The meeting between Mohammed and Léon is a comparison of two ways of life, expressed with spontaneity, generosity and modesty.