Presented in the Best of Fests section of IDFA 2021, Ousmane Samassekou’s The Last Shelter captures a sensitive, raw and intimate portrait of the travelers passing through The House of Migrants, giving a uniquely personal glimpse into their vulnerable lives.
As part of our coverage of IDFA 2021 (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), running in Amsterdam from November 17th to 28th, we explored the Best of Fests section where we came across The Last Shelter (France, Mali, South Africa, 86 min, 2021) directed by Ousmane Samassekou, which premiered earlier this year at CPH:DOX, where it took home the DOX:AWARD, in the festival’s international competition. The film was also selected, among others, for Hot Docs in Toronto, and DOK.fest München.
The Last Shelter opens with a heart wrenching scene at a nearby graveyard, immediately portraying the vulnerability of life as migrants know it. The attentive and observant nature of this scene sets the tone for Samassekou’s direct approach in representing reality truthfully. With this approach, and through the use of direct cinema, Samassekou sets out to capture life at The House of Migrants.
The House of Migrants is set in the Malian city of Gao at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. In what has been a peaceful haven for African travelers for decades, The House of Migrants is ‘the last shelter’ for migrants who are headed for Algeria with Europe as their final goal while also being a shelter for those forced to turn back. The House of Migrants forms a crossroad, in the journeys of the steady stream of migrants passing through. Here, in this place dedicated to supporting migrants, travelers unexpectedly find warmth, friendship, and joy as well as warnings and advice from those who passed through before them.
Without a scripted narration, Samassekou relies heavily on the natural conversations that take place in The House of Migrants. Through the casual, fun nights and the informational sessions led by the house’s manager, we find out that while the journeys of these travelers might seem similar on the outside, they form a diverse group depicting migrants from diverse origins. It also becomes achingly clear that many of them have lost themselves among the way. Through intimate portrays we learn that they are not just on a physical journey but more so on a psychological journey of healing. Trying to mend and find themselves after everything they have endured since they left home.
By living for months amongst the travelers in the House of Migrants, Samassekou managed to gain the trust of people so wary of outsiders. Because of this, the film gives a unique and intimate glimpse into the lives of the characters. All of this culminates into the powerful, heartbreaking testimony of Esther, a 16-year-old girl from Burkina Faso, who finally opens up and exposes the harshness of her past. “Before I came here, I hated life. Now that I’m here, I learnt that you should love life”.
Overall, Ousmane Samassekou manages to share intimate portraits of the travelers leaving the audience to contemplate the vulnerability of the migrants’ lives, and the harshness of what they have to go through.
