saison en France, Une

Abbas, a single father, has fled Africa with his children and is making every effort to build up a new existence in France. He falls in love with a French woman and has a job at a greengrocer’s, but it slowly becomes obvious that Abbas and his children are not welcome anywhere.

In the Central African Republic, Abbas had a loving family and a job as a respected French teacher. His brother Ettienne also worked there, teaching philosophy. But the civil war forced them to flee. In France, in one fell swoop they lost their good reputations, are given the cold shoulder, and have low-wage jobs. During their escape, Abbas’ wife was killed, and now he has to manage all on his own. In spite of all his traumas and nightmares, he makes every effort to build a good existence for his young daughter and his son. They have no permanent residence and the family is continually forced back onto the streets. They move in with Abbas’ French friend Carole, but even there he’s not safe. Slowly it becomes clear that they are considered second-rate citizens, with no place in Fortress Europe.

Heartrending fiction film from director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun from Chad, whose Hissein Habré – A Chadian Tragedy was awarded the Golden Butterfly for Best Documentary in the A Matter of ACT competition at last year’s Movies that Matter Festival.