On the Border
Gabriela Schild & Gerald Igor Hauzenberger / Austria, Germany & Switzerland / 2024 / 103 min
The desert city of Agadez in Niger is a hub of trade routes, migration, EU politics and the nomadic culture of the Tuaregs. A cinematic report from a human tower of babel, where dilemmas line up.
Time is long and deep in the desert. Out here you are close to infinity, but you are also surprisingly close to a complicated present. For as long as anyone can remember, the desert city of Agadez in Niger has been a place where people and trade routes have flowed through. It is also a center for the nomadic movements of the Tuareg people. And recently, it has become a passage for thousands of migrants on their way to Europe.
To stem the flow, the EU and Niger signed an agreement criminalizing migration. But this has had disastrous consequences for the economy and social stability of the city, which was once a holiday destination for European tourists. Today, the city is a symbol of the many dilemmas that a globalized world inadvertently brings.
‘On the Border’ is a cinematic and sensorial report in which the locals themselves do the talking. The former mayor, a radio reporter and a salesman are among them, and although the big picture is tragic, there is still room for the quirky and very human details.