Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have been shaking consciences since 1987 with their socially themed films. With Rosetta they achieved their first Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1999 thanks to the story of a teenager who lives in a caravan with her alcoholic mother and is desperately looking for a job. They repeated the award six years later with The Child, about a young couple who survive in the suburbs of Liège and face the challenge of being parents.
Regulars of the French festival, this year they competed again with another admirable work that directly hits that Europe that turns its back on the most disadvantaged. And it is that in Tori and Lokita they portray the endearing friendship between an African teenager and a boy menas (unaccompanied foreign minors) who pretend to be brothers to resist the harshness of migratory life alone, and who deal in delivering food at home and selling drugs to pay an endless debt to the gangsters who brought them clandestinely to the old continent. The dramatic story won the 75th anniversary award of the prestigious French competition.
With a constantly moving camera in hand, the bleak reality of these minors is imposed unfiltered on the viewer in a deeply sad and moving story. "I don't know if it's our saddest movie, but we certainly went for a more direct look so that the audience can't shy away from it. We may tell less, but our goal was to tell a story of friendship and also expose a horrific situation. There are many people who take advantage of the human tragedy to take advantage of it. Everything that happens around Lokita is very devastating, although we couldn't do anything else, "Luc explains in conversation with La Vanguardia.
The girl, played by newcomer Mbundu Joely, is very tall, has no papers and acts as the older sister of Tori, a lively little 12-year-old boy who is full of energy. He has managed to have documentation. The two are inseparable and take care of each other in a harsh world, singing songs to make themselves feel better. "We thought that if we wanted to teach what life is, friendship does not always win, but it allows many things like resisting a lot. However, there is a time when violence is so great in those environments that there is no possible salvation," he says. Jean Pierre.
Both filmmakers became interested in the subject three years ago when they read some articles that spoke of the large number of missing children in Europe. "It was not known what had become of them. It could not be that some kids who come to Europe to have a better life and help their family do not have papers. We started talking and we felt the need to have a very strong friendship between the two and how that relationship allows them to go further. When you are an immigrant you need people to help you and they are completely alone.
To write the script they documented a lot and talked to psychologists and psychiatrists. "The loneliness of these children is so terrible that it generates diseases, such as anxiety attacks, that would never have occurred in other circumstances. If we have been able to tell the story between the two of them, it has been through their incredible friendship."
What has happened then with that Europe of opportunities? "There are opportunities for some young immigrants if they come from a country at war or are persecuted in their country. Tori, for example, is considered a child witch by his family. But there is no opportunity for minors whose families kick them out of their homes. to come to Europe and send them money, as is the case with Lokita. They have nothing and it is impossible for them to get papers. That is why it is important that the laws change and that these young people can come as long as they learn the language or a trade and study. If not, they end up falling into criminal gangs and stay illegally in Europe. It's a terrible problem," admits Jean-Pierre. "Hence -adds Luc- we dedicate this film to a French baker who opposed his apprentice being expelled at the age of 18 for not having documentation. He was on a hunger strike until he managed to convince the authorities and now the apprentice is working to have his own bakery and is about to get married. If we have a good baker, because he is not French, should we expel him? It's ridiculous," he says.
The directors found their young leads "following the classic casting system." Luc's son has an agency and he started looking. They looked at many photos and in the end they chose Mbundu Joely and Pablo Schils, who became intimate during the shoot. "The theme was to see if they could work together and they did basically because we rehearsed a lot. The chemistry was obvious and now they are great friends."
Lovers of the big screen, they believe that the health of cinema is in danger throughout the world due to platforms and the scourge of the pandemic. Even so, Luc declares himself optimistic: "I think that people are going to continue going to theaters, although the most important thing is that there are good films. And it is very good that González Iñárritu has demanded that Netflix not go directly to Netflix with his film Bardo. platform until 45 days after its theatrical release. A film must live in the movie theater".
