Brûle la Mer, Brûle la Mer

“Burning the Sea stands at the paradoxical crossroads between the lively energy of a revolution in progress, the momentum of a departure to Europe, and the violence of a welcome declined. The film targets what constitutes the sensitive framework of an existence at a time of rupture; that which is the smallest, the most common, far from exoticism, but haunted by a dream, like an exhortation. It is not a film about emigration or revolution, it is an essay on freedom, or rather an essay that stages freedom: a real and fictitious attempt to escape which involves the making of a film, taking part in the process of emancipation: burning the sea, borders, laws, papers, etc. What does it mean to break with one’s past life, leave one’s country and family in which, somehow or other, strong links of solidarity, mutual assistance and ancestral ties to the land still prevail, and join a world mythologized and dominated by capitalist relationships? What is meant by ’living one’s life’?” Thus is clearly expressed the position of the filmmakers who, far from resorting to sociological clichés, have chosen to make some voices heard. (JPR)  Nathalie Nambot Maki Berchache