“Here is a place beyond space and time” says Kalam, who guides viewers through the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. His poetic words form the framework of the film. 600,000 Rohingya have been living tightly packed in this muddy city, provided with makeshift relief supplies, for years. When it rains, the paths turn into streams, people wade through mud, but the children and young people still play soccer devotedly in all the mud. And when the wind blows, they fly kites. No one is allowed to leave the camp. The camera’s view is constantly blocked by all kinds of grids, but it finds ways into the huts and knows how to show the people in the most beautiful light. All the more stark is the contrast to her reports of expulsion, murder and rape. The camera rests on faces, on everyday gestures, a pregnant woman sews a dress, the mother combs her daughter’s shiny black hair. A hut is built, the chickens are fed. Life goes on even in stagnation. Kalam only wants freedom, and that the world learns of this tragedy.
Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier are film directors and producers from Quebec, Canada. In the context of this film, they also created the multidisciplinary exhibition “Wandering, a Rohingya Story” on view at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec (MNBAQ).
Directors: Olivier Higgins, Mélanie Carrier
Cinematography: Renaud Philippe, Olivier Higgins
Editors: Olivier Higgins, Amélie Labrèche
Production: möfilms
Distribution: SPIRA, Québec
