:: IFFK 2008 ::

The profound pain of the African subject, battered by colonialism and endless exploitation, is beyond the scope of a feature film. Cinema, the writer and director Laurent Salgues seems to say, may capture a fleeting moment, but its limitations can never definitively portray the reality of the doomed 'dark continent'. There is no hysterical portrayal of grief in Dreams of Dust, yet pessimism and grief are etched indelibly in the contour of the characters, like a birthmark.

Dreams of Dust begins with a fabulous long shot depicting the vastness of the dusty African landscape. Mocktar has left Nigeria to find work in the gold mines of Burkina Faso. In Essakane, where he arrives, the gold rush ended twenty years before. Unlike everyone else, gold is not what Mocktar is after. He has come here to try and forget the death of his youngest daughter, who died of malaria. Shamed into humiliation by his wife, who thinks he is incapable of providing for his family, Mocktar has no intentions of going back.

Dust is a constant presence in the film, and this draws attention to its technical pedigree. Cinematographer Crystal Fournier's intense lens, along with superb art direction and design, are able to create the atmosphere of hazardous peril and impending threat that defines the life of the gold mine worker. Working in small teams overseen by a merciless boss, the workers descend narrow tunnels reaching a hundred feet and more into the sand with flashlights tied to their heads. On the discovery of a gold nugget, the entire team becomes wealthy. In a tunnel collapse, the asphyxiating sand makes rescue impossible. Violence is never far away, as Mocktar's mate recounts his father's throat slit open when he went back home with his fortune. Because in this destitute land, wealth is too conspicuous to remain hidden.

Salgues' direction combines an intimate understanding of African existence with the detached eye of an observer. In the beginning of the film, Mocktar is in the process of procuring a work permit, when the official asks him for a bribe. Mocktar pauses for a moment and then gives away the money apathetically, and without surprise. Salgues is drawing attention not only to the moral decadence of the ruling class, but also to how inured the African sensibility has become to institutional decay.

Makena Diop, as the lead protagonist, plays Mocktar with dignity and poise. The background music is sparse yet adequate, never overtly imposing its presence on the narration. The Indian audience that attended the screening at IFFK was startled when a song from the Indian classic Pakeezah is introduced around the hour-mark. Baffled, bemused gasps reverberated in the theatre, after this bizarre, unlikely tryst with Bollywood. A moment later, we realized that in the film, a sizeable bunch of people are huddled around an ancient TV, enraptured and captivated.

This moment, in a sense, captures the diversity of Salgues' enquiry, yet the intimate acquaintance developed with the characters is never abandoned. Salgues' screenplay does not attempt to represent the wider political debates through explicit dialogue between its characters. The harrowing reality of Dreams of Dust finds resonance precisely because the film is aware of its limitations. It is one of the strongest contenders for this year's Best Film award.