Atlantiques (2009)

Separated from the woman he loves, a man sits with his friends by a roaring fire on the coast of Senegal dreaming of a reconciliation far away. As their entirely natural and spontaneously presented conversation evolves, their thoughts turn to escaping their daily drudge and taking to the open sea. “The ocean has no borders” says one… “it has nothing to hold on to” replies another as they begin to asses the emotional and physical risks that any journey might involve and weigh them up against losing what little they have at home - even if that includes their own lives. It packs quite a bit of philosophy into fifteen minutes, this feature, with an observational style of photography that takes us intimately into their debate. Their chatter seems to neatly align the pros and cons of their risky proposition and serves to provide the observer with some sort of idea as to the inspiration and driving forces that compel people to seek a better life, even if the place they are heading to is unknown to them, and quite possibly no less welcoming. It only scratched the surface of the issues, but it’s still worth a watch.