We went there not really knowing what to expect, wondering if the duration was “worth it”. We came home covered in wounds. Since November 5, French cinemas have been showing the entire trilogy Dark nightby French filmmaker Sylvain George. A triptych as dark and opaque as the title suggests, which follows the fate of Moroccan miners over several periods trying to reach Europe.
The first two films, Wild leaves (2022) and Goodbye here, anywhere (2023), filmed in Melilla, a Spanish exclave located on the northern coast of Morocco, through which hundreds of migrants seek a better future in Europe. The filmmaker films several young people trying to survive in a city that is hostile to them and redoubles their illegal travel efforts. Last part –“Aren’t I still a child”– set in Paris, while the young people, finally arriving at their destination, wander around the Eiffel Tower.
A scene from a movie Dark Night – “Aren’t I a Child?”the third part of the Sylvain George trilogy. | Black Production
This third and new work is perhaps the darkest, the boys have now arrived at the destination of which they dreamed so much, but with no real prospects for the future. When tourists and passers-by crowd within inches of them, never meeting their eyes, young migrants experience coldness, violence, addiction and depression.
Encourage the audience
Three experimental documentaries, each 2 hours 45 to 4 hours 15 minutes long, can be watched together or separately. While the displayed time may seem excessive, it is still important. It is he who forces us to experience, beyond the established and comfortable limits of time, the experiences of young people living on the streets.
“According to the predetermined duration, whether you like it or not, directing the gaze, also assigns the audience and director to a certain place”Sylvain George estimates. The more films advance, the greater the barriers they place on audiences and allow them access to rare viewing experiences. Because of the picture Dark night remains memorable long after seeing it.
Image taken from Dark Night – Goodbye here, anywherethe second part of the Sylvain George trilogy. | Black Production
As a focal point, Sylvain George singles out a generation of young people who have made the decision to remain on the streets, for reasons that are often more complex than they appear. “In Spain, they are welcomed in health centers. As long as they follow the rules a little, where they undergo training, they almost certainly have papers. But there are many people who do not want to stay three years like that in Spain and say to themselves: “First we will go on a small trip to Europe, then we will return a year and a half before the majority.”
Unfortunately, this is where the situation gets complicated for most of them. “They rob pharmacies, make money, and do a little mischief. They can buy clothes, send a little money abroad, and eventually to Morocco. And quickly, they get caught up in street life and find themselves in some kind of crime.” mood where they use drugs.”
“Deconstruction of completely dominant and generic representations”
For these young people, who often drop out of school and have been on the streets from a very young age, adapting to life in a rehabilitation center is much more difficult than it seems on paper. So, the street is often considered the best option. “In Morocco, they are assigned to nothing. We have to understand them, they are people who often experience very difficult situations, including sexual harassment. They are no longer used to the rules. It is not easy for them to join a center with a fixed schedule and rules. In addition, they often do not speak French. Once they arrive in a country they are not very familiar with, they really have to live in groups, to form a community.”
The filmmaker recalls the tragic case of a young man who left the Melilla Center “following the movements of his friends”. After arriving in France, “He started using drugs, then using the pharmacy. He was arrested once, twice, three times, four times. The fifth time he ended up in prison.
Image taken from Dark night – Wild leavesthe first feature film in Sylvain George’s documentary trilogy. | Black Production
dramatic destiny, Dark night describes many of them. Yet the author of this trilogy does not engage in miserabilism or sentimentalism, rejecting a number of narrative and aesthetic conventions. However, this does not prevent the development of emotions.
Sylvain George, who also made a documentary about the Calais or Nuit Debout movement, has long wondered about European migration policy and its consequences. In all, he devoted more than ten years to it Dark nightfrom writing to financing, including different filmmaking periods. With aesthetic and political goals: “Deconstructing completely dominant and generic representations, essentializing forms of migrants.”
Black and white and fragmented structure
All three films adopt a fragment structure, consisting of scenes presented without context, where the events depicted are sometimes enigmatic. The documentary filmmaker refuses to use traditionally accepted principles for immigration-related films, particularly what he calls “love card”.
“Often, films made about social issues, or about immigration, are made by people who come from wealthy backgrounds.notes Sylvain George. I also don’t want to make a big deal out of it, because you can come from a place that is considered privileged and make films. But quite a few people question their body posture, which is a problem. So, they will make the film “on”, with the point of view facing outwards.
The filmmaker laments the fact that most of these films employ “A very humanitarian, social or compassionate approach. That is, the subject is depoliticized. The ancient Christian software always comes to the fore and we witness the “passion” of a character, with all the stages up to the crucifixion and perhaps the resurrection. This play of emotions is a privilege, ignoring the conditions of these people’s existence. What made these people end up experiencing this? If people sleep on the streets in Calais, it is not because of fate or anything. It is good because there are policies that are made that make people have to live and sleep in under the bridge.”
As for the black and white colors, which give the film a deep melancholic impression, this aims to subvert and readjust the visual language of archives and facts of the past: “The myth of progress is very widespread in our societyexplained Sylvain George. Politicians rely on this: “Ah yes, it’s bad. Yesterday was still worse and tomorrow will be better.” So the idea of working with black and white is to question this doxa. We do very contemporary stuff. Black and white is not an archive, but reality.”
A young Moroccan migrant recorded the video Dark Night – Goodbye here, anywherethe second part of the Sylvain George trilogy. | Black Production
However, Sylvain George refuses to be confined to the cinema activist box. “I don’t make films that are condemnatory. People are big enough to position themselves. I’m certainly not going to say to them: ‘You have to think about this, this, that.’ When I make a film, it’s because I want to know what a certain place is like.” So for sure, to appreciate Dark nightYou have to take the time to find out what it’s like and be willing to go through a sometimes unpleasant experience. But if the results allow you to see the world a little differently and free yourself from your own prejudices, then yes, it might be worth it.
