Dafa Metti (Difficult)
2019 · 15m · United Kingdom
Directed by Tal Amiran
Genres: documentary, drama
Tones: contemplative, dark, melancholic
Undocumented Senegalese migrants sell miniature Eiffel Tower souvenirs at the monument's base, sending money home while evading the police.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
This could've been another hand-wringing doc about migration and precarity, but Amiran refuses the sermon—instead it's just these men, their Eiffel Towers, the quiet arithmetic of survival. The subversion is in the restraint.
A formally precise piece that locates itself in the lineage of observational cinema, with editing that lets duration and repetition do the ethical work rather than score or narration.
The decision to film the souvenir transactions themselves—the actual exchange, the haggling, the pocketing of euros—transforms what could be exploitative testimony into something with real dignity and texture.
Reviews
It takes place in Paris, the location is around the Eiffel Tower, a symbol for France, a place where millions of tourists come to take selfies or have photos taken of themselves. There is nothing new in this documentation but there is a filmmaker behind the camera, who knows how to create an atmosphere of tough sadness.