Heiners Filmseiten – Wallay (en)

Wallay

German title: Wallay (Heimat)
Original title: Wallay

Tragicomedy – Frankreich, Burkina Faso, Katar
Production year: 2017
Movie length: 84 minutes

Director: Berni Goldblat
Writer: David Bouchet
Cinematograph: Martin Rit
Music: Vincent Ségal

Movie description:

The 13-year-old Ady hangs out with shady people and eludes his father’s control. As a disciplinary measure, his father decides to send him from France to Burkina Faso to live with his uncle Amadou. It dawns on Ady that this will not be a laid-back vacation, as there is not even any electricity to charge his iPhone during the day and he cannot access the internet. Everybody is telling him that this strange country is his home, although Ady does not even speak the language. Only when he meets his grandmother does he find a connection to this other world.
In a cautious, almost documentary style this fiction film addresses issues of origin, home and belonging and gives a striking account of culture and traditions in West Africa.

»Wallay« depicts everyday life in Burkina Faso through the eyes of 13-year-old Ady. Ady actually lives in France, but his father has decided to send him on a long journey to relatives in West Africa. The boy is super excited at the prospect of a laid-back vacation in his father’s country of origin, but when he finally gets there, his uncle’s welcome is cold and reproachful. The other members of the family are happy to see this visitor from afar and try to ease the situation, but Ady soon realizes that his stay is not going to be exactly relaxing.

Boy Actors