The Circle of the Drowned
2007
‘When the oldest among us realised that our destination would be the fort at Oualata, he began to cry. He couldn’t imagine that men could send other men so far away.’ (excerpt from the film) The Circle of the Drowned is the name given to black political prisoners in Mauritania, imprisoned from 1987 onwards in the former colonial fort of Oualata. This film explores the delicate work of remembrance undertaken by one of these former prisoners, who recalls his own story and that of his fellow inmates. In parallel, the places of their imprisonment follow one another in their starkness, stripped of all traces of that past.
Credits
Screenplay: Text by Bo Fara
Directed by: Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd
Cinematography: Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd
Sound: Alain Cabau
Sound Editing: Paul Delvoie
Sound Mixing: Paul Delvoie
Editing: Philippe Boucq
Production
Cobra Films / Zeugma Films
Co-production
CBA (Audiovisual Center in Brussels) / Gsara (Brussels) / Les Ateliers du Laziri / Image Plus TV (France)
With the support of
French Community of Belgium / CNC / Procirep / Angoa / Plan MEDIA (EEC)
Reviews
The Circle of the Drowned_01.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_02.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_03.pdf
The_Circle of the Drowned_lalibre.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_Verslavenir.pdf
The Circle of Drowned_nouvelobs-1.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_mad.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_lhumanite.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_lemonde.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_fribourg2-2.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_flagey.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_docus_sur_grand_ecran.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_Berlinale_Catalogue-2.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_Der_Tagesspiegel.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_Like_in_the_cinema.pdf
The Circle of the Drowned_bulletin.pdf
Awards
First Feature Film Prize, Arcueil 2006 (France)
Ecumenical Jury Prize
FIPRESCI Prize and "Don Quixote" Prize at the Fribourg International Film Festival 2007 (Switzerland)
Henri Storck Prize (Belgium)
Broadcasts
TV-ARTE
In theaters in Belgium: Brussels / Mons / Namur / Liège / Charleroi / Tournai, Verviers / Marche-en-Famenne
In theaters in France: Paris / Saint-Gratien / Toulouse / Bordeaux / Ivry-sur-Seine / Arcueil
Festivals
Quintessence Ouidah (Benin)
57th Berlin International Film Festival – Forum (Germany)
Fespaco Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
Les Hivernales du documentaire (France)
Fribourg I. F. F. (Switzerland)
Milan African Film Festival (Italy)
Alba I. F. F. Infinity-Turin (Italy)
Paris Human Rights Festival (France)
Dakar Neighbourhood Film Festival (Senegal)
Dok Fest Munich (Germany)
Vues d’Afrique Montreal (Canada)
Innsbruck International Film Festival (AT)
Songes d’une nuit DV Paris (France)
Nouakchott National Film Week (Mauritania)
Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada),
Kerala International Film Festival (India), Perm International Documentary Film Festival (Russia)
NIHRFF – Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival (Germany)
Le Port African Film Festival (Reunion)