IDFA - Those Who Jump

A large group of African migrants struggles to survive in primitive conditions on a hillside in northern Morocco. Every day, they look out over the Spanish enclave of Melilla, and beyond it the Mediterranean. Dreaming of a new life in Europe, they make plans to cross the border illegally. But the border is a physical obstacle in the form of a high fence, one that is watched by surveillance cameras day and night, and behind which police officers stand ready to deal harshly with anyone who dares to make the jump. Only a few make it across. Others get caught, give up or lose their lives in the attempt.

Moroccan police frequently come up the mountain, chase away the migrants and burn their scanty belongings. Those Who Jump is a raw, unpolished record of a brutal existence, due largely to the fact that the camerawork is carried out by one of the migrants, a Malinese man named Abou Sidibé. Protagonists in the global migration drama are frequently invisible and voiceless, so this film offers a refreshing new perspective.

(idfa)