THE RIVER IS NOT A BORDER
Title: THE RIVER IS NOT A BORDER
Directed by
Country: Senegal
Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes
SYNOPSIS
Forty protagonists, witnesses and victims look back at the 1989 massacres on both sides of the Senegal River, the border between Mauritania and Senegal, in order to understand what really happened, and try to take a step towards reconciliation together.
“In 1989, after a clash near the border between Mauritanian shepherds and Senegalese peasants, an incredible escalation of racist violence took place in the two countries. These events caused thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of refugees. Today, despite appearances, the wounds have not healed. With this film, I want to try to understand what really happened, I want to pay tribute to the dead, and above all, I want to take a step towards reconciliation.” Alassane Diago
Directors’ Bio
Alassane Diago
Alassane Diago was born in 1985 in Agnam Lidoubé, Senegal. After completing an audiovisual training course in Dakar in 2007, he took several courses in directing techniques and scriptwriting, notably with the documentary filmmaker Samba Félix Ndiaye. He worked on various film sets, including Lili-et-le baobab directed by Chantal Richard, before directing his first feature-length documentary, Les Larmes de l’émigration (2010), which won several awards. Alassane Diago now lives in Paris.
Director Statement
The victims of the massacres and deportations of April 1989 are today in the thousands: bruised, ruined, and neglected. They live in acute suffering, in silence – their tragic history remains taboo.
I create an temporary place where all the stories of the victims can be told and heard, a complex and subtle meeting space where the different actors in this conflict can reconstruct the story of this tragedy together, to heal wounds and prepare for the future.
More films
Tem Floresta
This mini documentary is a product of the campaign of the same name that seeks to value female leaders in the forests, raising awareness among the population on the topics of environmental racism, climate justice and the right to land from the point of view of black women of the forest.
In Your Eyes
“In your eyes” documentary explores themes of identity, migration, asylum and racism and examines the complexities of the migrant and refugee experience.
Gaza Is Our Home
With over 150 family members trapped in the Gaza Strip, and the devastating loss of 33 family members in November 2023.
Our Movement Starts Here
The story of a rural community that inspired an international environmental justice movement by fighting the state of North Carolina’s toxic landfill.