Sun., Mar. 26, 2017, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
This film takes its place within the fertile genre of documentaries dedicated to madness. But it transforms that genre because of its location, which is a Senegalese asylum near Dakar. Joris Lachaise, who is also cameraman and editor, takes advantage of the complexity of a situation that lies at the intersection of what we name madness and what can only be termed misery, of different local religions and beliefs, including what we call “science.” Acknowledging this complexity, Lachaise pays respectful attention to everyone: inmates and doctors, priests and nurses. Lachaise uses a rare and powerful tool to approach the intersections of all these dimensions—where they interfere, support or oppose each other—a tool that cannot be defined otherwise than by the word “beauty.” This visual intensity takes up the challenge of accepting and questioning the abyss of the human psyche, together with all those who are involved—including us, watching.