In Dakar alone, the number of talibés – these street children often exploited in daaras, Koranic schools – is estimated between 50,000 and 200,000. To get as close as possible to this very harsh reality, the filmmaker Belgian Quentin Bruno directed “Daara”, a short film in the form of a visual contemplation, in the suburbs of Dakar. Interview at the International Documentary Film Festival in Biarritz (Fipadoc).
RFI : Why did you decide to shoot in Dakar, in Senegal, on the talibés?
Quentin Bruno : In 2015, 2016, I went there with an NGO, as a photographer, to document the situation of the talibés. But, in the photo, there was something wrong with this report. So I wanted to come back, this time on video, to succeed in documenting the situation as I wanted.
What did you look for in video that you couldn’t find in photo ?
The silences. Floating moments. And I tried to create an atmosphere via editing or a sound atmosphere, which was not possible in photography.
The film is dedicated to Youssoupha. Who is this boy ?
Youssoupha is the main character of my short film. This is the child that I was able to follow during this documentary. A lovely child. We really had a great relationship. For this, the film is dedicated to him. He comes from Guinea-Conakry. It is a daara which is mainly filled with children from Guinea-Conakry. He said he was 16, but they don’t all know their ages. I have the impression that he is physically younger. His aspirations, surprisingly, is to become a marabout, a Koranic master.
At the beginning of the film, we hear a muezzin, then we enter this Koranic school and observe children learning by heart, writing and reciting the sacred text of Islam. How did you get to this place ?
I went through an NGO that helped talibé children there and with whom I had had good relations since 2015. This helped me create a relationship of trust. Afterwards, it was a lot of work on the ground to succeed in being accepted by the parents, the marabout, to succeed in making myself forgotten on the spot too – which was not easy either.
Why is it a documentary without interviews, without dialogues, only based on the images and the sound environment on the spot ?
First, because I am a photographer at the base. For me, it was the best way to tell this subject. That’s where I’m most comfortable, because it allowed me to suggest more things, and to be more gentle than having a voiceover or interviews with different speakers, whether the children, the marabout or the NGOs. I wanted something based on visual contemplation.
This visual contemplation is based on almost innocent images. At the same time, there are cards giving information of a very cruel reality, explaining that the children in the daaras often come from very poor families, that there is often abuse, mistreatment and violence observed in the daaras in Senegal where children are forced to seek alms for the marabout. Why did you separate these two worlds: on one side soft images, on the other side very hard information ?
It was still necessary to provide a minimum of facts to help the spectator to understand this reality, but also the images and the heaviness of meaning of certain things that can be observed in the film. This contrast between the two was necessary to be able to realize the facts – while remaining in a visual contemplation.
In the film, the little boy learns the Koran, seeks alms for the marabout, and everyone gives him something, everyone seems to be happy, there is no problem. In the picture, the system works, so what’s wrong ?
The problem is that we are dealing with children who have to go begging. And if they don’t bring enough either rice, sugar, bread, or money, they will suffer physical, psychological or verbal violence from the marabout. Which is obviously unacceptable. Beyond that, they risk being thrown out on the streets until they bring in enough money, etc. And a child who sleeps in the street, he faces a number of unimaginable dangers. The problem is there.
The starting point of the documentary is also a law passed in 2005 in Senegal which made illegal the exploitation of talibés and the use of children for begging. You were there in 2015, you went back there for your documentary. Do you feel that the situation has improved ?
Unfortunately, I haven’t noticed any change. Afterwards, I came back to the same neighborhood as before. I know that the police act more directly in the heart of Dakar, but there are still children everywhere. Clearly, in the suburbs and around the center, there is no one to control the situation. I absolutely saw no improvement since 2015.
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