Un homme sans l'Occident

This film - half fiction, half documentary - is Depardon's free translation of the novel Sahara. L'homme sans l'occident, which was published in 1922. In the book, the French lieutenant in the colonial army and author Diego Brosset sing the praises of and scrutinise the development and survival strength of a young hunter, who had never had contact with the West before getting into an armed conflict with the lieutenant. Depardon transposes this heroic epic to the modern era and tells the story of young Alifa, a boy growing up with a hostile hunting tribe, reaching manhood and then taking a stand against the white oppressors, who plan to take away the original nomads' precious living space. Un homme sans l'occident is a highly stylised film, in which meticulous frames and prolonged black-and-white takes show Alifa's adventures in the seemingly boundless desert, set against the background of the unwritten laws with which the different tribes guard their culture and territory. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)