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#12 A CINEMATIC GOLD DIGGER
08/09/2006
Although Rêves de poussière (lit. "Dreams of Dust") shows the harsh reality of Burkinese gold diggers who risk their lives every day in precarious shafts in the hopes of finding the gold nugget that will allow them to go back home as rich men, and despite the fact that this project started as a documentary, it is above all a fictional film, a beautiful tale dug out by Laurent Salgues on a continent he loves, which Venice Days audiences unanimously agreed was one of the most splendid and poetic films on the Lido.
In Rêves de poussière, Salgues courageously (for it is not always easy to get producers to agree to such long shots) favours the power of images and succeeds in building the narrative solely on visual elements. The hero's gradual descent into a hell of white dust is emphasised, silently, by the contrast between the proud way he carries himself in the beginning and his limping slowly, after his first day of work, alone in the wasteland he knows he will probably never leave. The idea of a permanent state of slavery (as gold diggers always work for someone else) is suggested by the image of the workers' pounding in a regular rhythm, like their ancestors who once rowed in galleys. The fact that Africans often live with their ghosts is expressed here through a lingering on empty places once peopled by parents and children now gone.
As lead actor Makena Diop pointed out after the screening, this film truly respects the rhythm of life and yet is such a rich narrative that it could last for hours without audiences even noticing.
The director promised a camel ride to any distributor interested in buying his film.
What led you to choose Africa as the background of your debut feature?
I have always been attracted by the South and the energy for life Africans have. When I shoot in Africa, I always have the impression that "it takes me back to my old farm in Gorée", as Depardon says. The idea to set a film in Essakane came after someone took me there to see the workers in their shafts; I thought it was only fair to tell their story and thus give them something back —this film was co-produced with Canada, and ironically, Essakane, which is one of the main gold-mining sites in the world, is owned by a Canadian company.
We are indeed very good at getting Africans to think they need us when it is in fact us who are exploiting the resources of this continent and only giving back a small part of it under the form of humanitarian aids which make us feel munificent.
Why a fiction?
I love stories, and Africa happens to be a place where story-telling is a major way of communicating —for that matter, Makena, the actor, is also a story-teller. I also think that documentaries only seize what is visible, apparent, while fiction goes further and deeper. In a way, fiction uses lies to get closer to truth.
Bénédicte Prot (Cineuropa)
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Reves de poussière Interview |
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