On attend (2016)

Directed by: Dimitri Sterkens | 12 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Jennifer Heylen, Alain Van Goethem, Joy Coene, Pierre Delagrange

Another film about the refugee problem? That’s what filmmaker Dimitri Sterkens thought too, when he was asked to make a film on the theme of refugees for his graduation assignment for the RITCS in Brussels. He stripped the theme down to the bare bone for himself and came to the conclusion that it is mainly about the longing for a home and the boundaries that hinder it.

That line of thought eventually resulted in ‘On attend’. In this, Sterkens approaches the universal story of a refugee in an abstract way. We see a dark room, in which the route is determined with stripes. A girl walks this route until she comes to a border officer, who asks her for her papers, her name and purpose of the visit. Every time her ID gets wet because she has to take a cold shower. And then the ink from the stamp in her passport runs out, so that she is refused again.

Sterkens manages to capture the despair and impotence of the African girl, Camille Boro (handsomely portrayed by debutant Jennifer Heylen). At the same time, he makes a clear statement by filming the story in such an abstract way: this applies to many refugees. The story does feel a bit too stretched due to the length of 12 minutes, it goes on while the point is already clear. Nevertheless, ‘On attend’ is an original addition to the films about this still pressing subject.