Tiny Mungwe

Business as Usual - Documentary

Following the dealings of Mauritanian fixers ferrying migrants by sea, this film shows the human cost of irregular migration in West Africa. Interrogating the role of fixers as facilitators of the voyage across the sea as well as the casualties that occur, this asks if they are very different from 16th century slave catchers.

Transactions

Many Zimbabweans have fled their economically stricken country, but they do send a lot of money home: in 2021 remittances totaled more than a billion dollars. One such migrant is Frank, who has emigrated to Cape Town. His brother Miles and sister Portia live in the UK, one in London, the other in Luton. His other sister still lives in Zimbabwe, but their mother MaMlilo thinks that she should also emigrate.

African Moot

For one week in Gaborone, Botswana, a collection of aspiring lawyers gathers for the annual African Human Rights Moot Court Competition. Competitors represent the top law schools from their respective nations as they debate a new issue each year. This time around, the focus is on the rights of refugees. Developing arguments that will be judged by practicing lawyers, the next generation discovers what policy should look like in the African continent and where advancements can be made across the region. While you may come for the competition in African Moot, you stay for the rising stars learning on the ground what it means to fight for their cause, country and continent as one.

No U-Turn

As a young man, director Ike Nnaebue left Nigeria intending to take the route via Benin, Mali, and Mauritania to Morocco - but he was forced to turn back earlier, and never made it to Europe. In his first documentary, No U-Turn, he retraces the life-changing journey he made over 20 years ago. Along the way, he meets those who are taking the same trip and, through conversations with them, tries to understand what motivates young people today to expose themselves to the dangers of a passage into an uncertain future. Most are aware of the dangers of traveling undocumented by road, yet more and more are joining the ranks of those who take this risk. Overlaid with a powerful poetic commentary and insight into the long-reaching impact of a colonial past, this self-reflective travelogue unpacks the deep longing of an entire generation in search of opportunities.

No Simple Way Home

Akuol de Mabior is the daughter of a martyr of the revolution in South Sudan. As her mother is sworn in as vice president, the young woman tries to find out if this country torn by civil war can ever become her home.

Stay Up

Mariam comes from Fana, a town nearby the Malian capital. At 5, she was sexually abused by a family acquaintance, raped by her cousin at 13 and by her brother-in-law at 16. Today, she deals with her traumas through dance.

Fati’s Choice

A beach reminds us of Fati’s recent past. She came to Italy by sea, without papers, pregnant for the fifth time. Longing for her children, she returned to Ghana six months later – without her husband. The people around her can’t understand this decision. “You’ve created a mess,” a friend says. “How do I tell people?” a sister asks. But Fati wants to provide for her family, even though she still has to liberate three of her children from the custody of her in-laws.