Agridulce - Bittersweet
Cuba, Germany 2008 | 45 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU

Great technical ability, craftsman’s pride, and creative energy are the driving forces behind the Sudanese mechanics responsible for customizing Bedford Trucks originally from England to meet the local needs in Sudan. For these mechanics, blacksmiths, and carpenters, however, ‘customizing’ means completely disassembling the truck involved before building it anew in a wholly unorthodox manner. The trucks, produced by British manufacturers and intended for roads throughout the English countryside, are thus transformed into desertproof vehicles. These most different of models originated in the 1960s and, over the course of the following decades, led to the development of a single, binding method of construction used in workshops all over the country. Shaped by an intense love of detail, this film tracks just how such a process of adoption occurs: the necessary steps, the work materials and tools, the social conditions as well as the tradition within which this specialized handicraft evolved. Anyone who doesn’t know Sudan will be surprised to see the power of innovation and the creativity of the mechanics, blacksmiths, and carpenters on full display.