(Documentary) Movie of the Day: Le spectre de Boko Haram (2023) by Cyrielle Raingou

Cyrielle Raingou follows a group of children as they carve out their own worlds amid the dangers of armed conflict. We meet the precocious Falta, studious and hardworking, eager to process her father’s death in a terrorist attack. Her classmate, Ibrahim, and his older brother Mohamad struggle with balancing their boyhood energy and a traumatic past that strays them from their eight and 11 year old innocence. Raingou, a native of the Far North Region herself, approaches her young subjects with a delicate and unobtrusive observance, allowing them to dictate the reality of their surroundings through their own words, movements and perspectives. The result is a distinct and profound study of the contrasts of a war zone: hope and despair, innocence and terrorism, the present and future, western influence and traditional culture. Winner Tiger Award, Rotterdam International Film Festival 2023. Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26345505/ Link Review: https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/437866/ Link to watch: https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/le-spectre-de-boko-haram