Zinder

Dir. Aicha Macky. Niger. 2021, 82 mins. In Kara Kara, a former leper colony within Zinder, one of Niger’s largest agricultural centers, ex-cons form clubs called “Palais” to fortify against immiseration and recidivism. Returning to her hometown, director Aicha Macky seeks out these men from the other side of the tracks, bringing us very close to the everyday realities and inner lives of Bawa, a former gang leader turned rickshaw driver troubled by recollections of his unspeakable crimes; Siniya Boy, the leader of the bodybuilding “Palais Hitler” who daily visits his imprisoned younger brother; and Ramsess, a street-smart woman who has earned the men’s respect as a supplier of smuggled petrol from neighboring Nigeria. Scenes of tireless hustle under the dry, hot sun are punctuated by intimate interviews in darkened rooms where these defiant survivors reveal their scars, both physical and psychic, with devastating honesty. North American premiere

Tickets: $15 / $11 seniors & students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / $7 MoMI members. Order online.     

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