Ali au pays des merveilles (Ali in Wonderland). 1975. France. Directed by Djouhra Abouda, Alain Bonnamy. DCP. 59 min.
Waalo Fendo (là où la terre gèle) (Waalo Fendo: Where the Earth Freezes). 1997. Switzerland. Directed by Mohammed Soudani. Written by Soudani, Antonio Mariotti, Saidou Moussa Ba. With Saidou Moussa Ba, Baara N’Gom, Souleymane Ndiaye. DCP restoration by Cinémathèque suisse; courtesy Cinémathèque suisse and Amka Films. French, Italian, Wolof; English subtitles. 63 min.
A collaboration between musician Djouhra Abouda and architect Alain Bonnamy, Ali in Wonderland is a radical, fundamental work that exposes the harrowing conditions faced by immigrant workers in 1970s France and denounces the racist exploitation and social segregation fed by the country’s economic and media apparatus. In the words of Abouda, “every image was filmed to hit you like a fist” while exploring “the everyday actions of migrant workers through a magnifying glass.” In Waalo Fendo: Where the Earth Freezes, Swiss-Algerian director Mohammed Soudani tells the story of brothers who leave their Senegalese village to build a new life together in the cold of Northern Italy. When one of them is assassinated near Milan’s train station, a shared dream of a better life becomes a painful journey that reflects the experiences of millions of migrants and refugees who risk their lives in search of a brighter future.