ZINDER

Aicha Macky / Niger, Germany, South Africa, France / 2021 / 85 min

The toughest gangs in Niger allow a local female documentary filmmaker to observe their world of violence and brutality, where everyone dreams of a way out.

They call themselves the Hitler gang and spread fear in the streets of Zinder, Niger’s second-largest city. Hard-boiled and unemployed young men with no future convene around bodybuilding and crime in a part of the city that has historically been a no-go area. The director Aicha Macky is from Zinder herself, and she knows her city. With unprecedented access to an otherwise closed world – and with mutual trust from the protagonists – she documents the vicious circle of hopelessness and radicalisation, but also the ways to break it. Sinia Boy, Bawo, Ramsess and their friends all dream of a future beyond their harsh background.