Farewell to Africa
Pierre-Alain Meier – Senegal
In 2009 the body of Alice B is found washed up on an African beach. Next to the corpse of the white, 30-year old European woman lie those of a dozen black migrants. Eight years after this tragedy, Pierre-Alain Meier travels to Senegal in the hope of understanding the story behind this shipwreck.
When he was Alice’s age, he wandered the streets of Dakar planning the production of the film Hyenas. Like her, he was a white person in Africa. Perhaps like her, he would hoped he could blend in a bit more with his African friends and co-workers and not be so unmistakeably foreign.
Following in Alice’s footsteps, the filmmaker today puts his own story into perspective, with humility and affection, allowing us access to a very intimate terrain. Farewell to Africa tells the story of a final journey and sets out to explore the complex ties – both rich and asymmetrical – that have never ceased to exist between Europe and French-speaking Africa.
Luciano Barisone
Imdb
Swiss Films
Cinefile
NM Internet links
Farewell to Africa at FIFF Fribourg on the 23rd of March 2018
Pully CityClub Cinema on January 6, 2018 © Jonathan Vayr
Farewell to Africa in Geneva, Cinemas du Grütli, February 3, 2018 ©Eva Zornio
From left to right; Alfio du Guardo, Thierry Spicher, Pierre-Alain Meier, Edouard Waintrop
