In Fabio Caramaschi’s film, a guest worker’s son borrows a camera to interview members of his family and Italians on the street—and finds that he gets very honest answers.  Sometime after Sidi’s father left to become a guest worker in Italy, Sidi, his mother and his younger sister were allowed to join him. Sidi’s little brother Alkassoum was left behind in Niger, as he had no identity papers. Sidi now speaks Italian, goes to school and is thinking about becoming a journalist. Alkassoum is still tending goats in the village where they were born. Finally, Alkassoum is also allowed to move to Italy. We follow Sidi and his family in their modern Italian lives, and visit Alkassoum, left behind in their desert village. It quickly becomes clear how big the gulf is between the countries, on all fronts.

SCREENING WITH

Say Grace Before Drowning
Nikyatu Jusu, USA, 2010; 17m

After meeting her African refugee mother for the first time in six years, eight-year-old Hawa is forced to co-exist with a woman teetering on the brink of insanity.