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Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

Posted By: Someonelse

Date: 25 Apr 2019 13:57:45

SD / DVD IMDb

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

Director: Laurent Salgues
Writer: Laurent Salgues
Stars: Makena Diop, Rasmane Ouedraogo, Adama Ouédraogo

Mocktar, a Nigerien peasant, comes looking for work in Essakane, a dusty gold mine in Northeast Burkina Faso, Africa, where he hopes to forget the past that haunts him. In Essakane, he quickly finds out, the gold rush ended twenty years before, and the inhabitants of this strange timeless wasteland manage to exist simply from force of habit. The beautiful Coumba, however, is still courageously struggling to raise her daughter after the death of her family. Mocktar will soon be fighting not only to survive, but also to provide a better future for this mother and her child.

IMDB | Wikipedia

Dreams of Dust stars Senegalese actor Makena Diop in the role of the enigmatic Nigerien farmer Moctar (from Niger, not Nigeria) who comes to neighboring Burkina Faso to leave his past behind and try to make a living in a mine in Essakane. The good news is that he finds a job that pays two dollars a day and a small percentage of an eventual discovery. The bad news is that the gold rush ended twenty years ago and finding any gold now is like winning the lottery.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

The opening scene is probably the most powerful and dramatic scene of all. It captures the semi-arid environment of a rural area in Burkina Faso. For seconds that seem like hours the viewer doesn’t see anything – no people, no animals, no birds, no nothing. Eventually several men emerge from nowhere, like moles from the ground, everywhere across the yellowed landscape. They have desolate faces, are full of dust and can barely breathe. They are all workers who look for gold underground, in narrow holes that can collapse every minute and claim the lives of all of the people who dared looking for gold in this forsaken land.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

Despite working in such dire conditions for hours at a time, their day is not over. The tyrannical boss that does nothing but yell at them all day long, watches over them at all times. And he wants to make the most out of the two dollars he pays his employees which means that the workers are expected to continue working by breaking stones, looking for gold in water holes or digging new holes in the desert.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

Moctar is a bizarre character: he is a tall, hard working, quiet, discrete, and honest man. He easily makes friends despite the fact that he is not asking for it. Viewers obsessed with knowing everything about the main characters in a movie will be disappointed. His mystery is not revealed by the end of the film. By the look of his worn-out hands, we find out that he used to be a farmer. He was once married and had a daughter. He could not provide for his family, so his wife thought less of his as a man. Determined to come to Burkina Faso and start a new life, Moctar simply wants to do his job and be left alone. He slowly falls in love with Coumba (Fatou Tall-Salgues), a beautiful local woman who struggles to raise her daughter after her entire family passed away. It might not be a coincidence that Coumba and her daughter seem to take the place of Moctar’s wife and his daughter, thus bringing the character to a full cycle by regaining what he once lost, and by achieving what he ultimately came for: redemption.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

This movie is not the usual Hollywood movie you are normally expecting at a subliminal level. You need to have patience and be aware that the beauty of the “Dreams” lays in something else than what you are normally used to. The difficulty in enjoying the movie comes from the very limited dialogue and the lack of action. Despite being a fairly short movie (83 minutes) it seems much longer because there’s not much going on action-wise. But the secret ingredient and the brilliance of the movie is the focus on body language, attitude and the small, unexpected things that happen in people’s lives.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

There are a particular amount of scenes that might not be noted as important by an uninformed Western audience despite the fact that they capture African anxieties, customs or beliefs. One woman confesses that she starting taking pills to fatten up, since skinny people are looked down on because people think they are sick. Like in any major business that is partly based on luck, after a mine tunnel collapses on one of the characters, people think this will bring luck because the last time that happened people experienced wealth for a period of time. It is a way of building hope on nothing, a sign that simply allows people to go on, in such a desolate environment.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

The fact that Moctar actually finds gold soon after the episode seems a little too convenient, though. Just after the tunnel collapses, one of the characters bitterly says “The gold we risk our lives for goes to the Whites,” which shows the frustration and the bitterness of the people who risk their lives for something that they will never fully benefit from. Another notable scene is when the owner of the mine starts dancing at the restaurant in very goofy way. At the sight of his ridiculous moves, one of the young men drinking at the bar says that “he dances like a white man,” which reads that the owner has no understanding or appreciation for the African beats and rhythms. There is another particularly interesting scene when the main character goes to the Sunday market. Without saying anything, one of the merchants calls him stranger and offers him a high price for a product that is worth maybe a third of the price advertised.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

This is particularly important because a significant number of westerners who travel to Africa argue that a form of “reversed racism” is currently happening, given the fact that African sellers try to sell their items at an overvalued price. However, as this scene suggests, the idea of reversed racism is false in that sellers will try to overcharge anyone who is not a local or is familiar with the market rules. The character avoids being ripped off and answers by saying that he is not a white man. By saying that, he sends at least two messages: that he is poor but also that is familiar with the market rules in African societies and the correct price for the merchandise.

Dreams of Dust (2006) Rêves de poussière

Why watch the movie?

Firstly for the unexpected glimpses of the West African culture, customs and humor. Secondly, for the stunning cinematography of Laurent Salgues: the landscapes, the focus of the camera, the moments captured are all worth watching. Thirdly, for the fact that it surprises the hopes, the dreams, the opinions of African people in a natural, simple and decent way. One of the things I’m most paranoid about when watching a movie made by a Westerner director about Africa is the almost constant attempt of such directors to induce a particular message that feeds in the common discourse of the west; to dramatize the action so that we, the people living in the West can feel moved, horrified or just good about ourselves, based on the intention of the director. “Dreams of Dust” does not try to accomplish that. It presents people’s views in a linear, natural and progressive way and allows viewers to draw their own conclusions. Lastly, watch it simply because of the extraordinary epic performance of Makena Diop who plays Moctar.
A Romanian in Africa