Love Letters from Somalia

In its own way, Frédéric Mitterrand’s film is a continuation of those tales of travel so popular in the 19th century. It is a film-letter wherein the traveler, who we only hear in voice-over, shares his impressions of Africa while also telling of his disappointments in love. Old colonial trading posts, an interview with Syad Barr – the dictator in power, an encounter with a young Parisian nurse working in a refugee camp all interweave with the constant echoes of lost love. Personal sorrow combines with the grief of a country torn apart by internal conflicts and poverty. –Les Films du Losange