Zinder

Director’s Statement

In 2004, I left my native Zinder to pursue a university education in Niamey, over 600 miles away, where I now live. […] Zinder seemed far away, but hideous and even shameful echoes reached me —gang rapes, street battles, armed robberies, all sorts of crimes and trafficking.

Aicha Macky

« How to chronicle your own people, yourself, your hometown, showing how a haven of peace turns into an idle city, pointing to remedies, trying to heal the wounds and the wounded while letting those concerned speak for themselves, to experience the present time with more hope in a city searching for safety. It took me months to get accepted. Siniya, Bawo, Ramsess, let me enter their own world. They have a foot inside (the gang) and a foot outside because they want to quit illegality. They have that perspective which allows us to discuss their ways of thinking. They are open to sharing their daily life and survival strategies with me. And above all, being around them keeps changing me. I understood that Kara-Kara could exist anywhere and is just a reflection of our collective behaviors and the result of a divide : them vs us »

Synopsis

In the town of Zinder in Niger, in the poor area of Kara-Kara which used to be the lepers’ district, a culture of gang violence reigns. A group of youths is trying to break free from this violence, some are trying to start a family and make a life for themselves rather than end up in prison. Aicha Macky, who comes from Zinder, films their daily lives divided between their gangs and their families. We discover how they skilfully cope with life’s challenges and witness their desire to break free from the cycle of violence which has built their identities.


Technical Specifications

Director : Aicha Macky

Producer : Clara Vuillermoz (Point du Jour-Les films du Balibari) ; Ousmane Samassekou (Tabous production) ; Erik Winker (Corso Film)

Country : Niger – France – Germany

Year : 2021

Length : 82 min ; TV cut 52 min

Language : Hausa, VOSTF et VOSTA available

Production : Tabous production (Niger) ; Point du Jour – Les Films du Balibari (France) ; Corso Film (Germany)

Co-Production : Arte France – Al Jazeera Documentary

In association with : STEPS (South Africa) – GENERATIONAFRICA

With the participation of : La Scam – brouillon d’un rêve ; Fondation Alter-ciné  ; Europe Creative – programme de l’Union européenne ; Hot Docs Blue Ice Fund ; Sundance Documentary Fund ; IDFA Bertha coproduction Fund ; World Cinema FundAfrica ; Fonds Jeune Création Francophone – Région des Pays de la Loire – Région Auvergne Rhône-Alpes ; Procirep Angoa ; Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image animée (CNC)

Distribution & International Sales : Andana Films