‘Taamaden’ follows a young West African man named Bakaray from Mali who is making an attempt to transition as an immigrant to Spain while still maintaining his ties to his roots and spiritual leaders. The documentary was created by Malian-born filmmaker, Seydou Cissé and made its debut at the 2021 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on November 17.
In the same documentary, the film also showcases fellow West African immigrants who are already living in Spain and are struggling to make a living and finding balance with their religious roots in Europe. The film starts off with Bakary talking with his fellow young men friends about the harsh realities of illegal immigration when crossing the borders to Europe.
One story shared from Bakary’s friend is that he had to offer up 25,000 FCFA (Central African CFA franc). Bakary’s friend already imagined himself living in France and felt he thought he had a plan in place to get there. Of all the trekking he did for his travel plans, the only thing that stopped him from crossing over was the border. The main issue is the idea of illegal economic migration that often plagues the West African immigrants to be able to cross the border.
In addition to that, for those who were able to cross the border and settle in Europe, immigrating to a new part of the world is one thing, but some of his friends described living in Europe is not a rosy as it sounds. There will be hell to deal with the local people and the poor treatment of West Africans who struggle to make a living in a foreign country. Bakary feels strongly about his destiny to immigrate, get a masters degree, and obtain a good paying job.
In contrast to Bakary’s ambition, the documentary also shows the perspectives of a man who successfully immigrated to Valencia, Spain and shared his story that of his experience living there. Immigrating without legal papers or documentation, the only way to survive is to work. The man’s perspective falls to a religious and spiritual belief that even though he’s tired having gone through a long journey to get to Spain and still deal with the struggles of finding work to survive, he is grateful to God for sparing his life getting there.
His perspective focuses on the idea that he was not killed or arrested throughout his journey, and believes he is spared and protected for good reason to still live a respectable life in Valencia. How he tries to find work is to rely on his prayers and offerings to his spiritual leaders of all the sacrifices he made to get there, in hopes to receive work to earn a living. Most of his time is shown browsing the smartphone, which looks to be relating to West African groups in Spain who support each other in finding odd jobs they can take on to make some money.
The stories told by other young men in the documentary truly shows the humanistic side of their purpose of wanting to move to Europe. Some of them want to get an education, get a good job, and to help their family back in West Africa. Their ambitions are very heartwarming to see, giving a reminder to the world that they are human too and just want to live a good life on this world.
It’s a refreshing take to hear the stories and feedback from those who have been through the struggles living in Europe and returning to West Africa, usually sharing the negative feedback and realities that one may or may not make it there. Not that it is a bad thing to share, as it is their own experiences to help better prepare Bakary of his decision when he is ready to commit. The film shows them heavily relying back to their religion to keep them protected in their lives. Much like the theory of Haslem’s hierarchy of needs, health and physiological needs are the most important thing in life.
‘Taamadem’s’ documentary is a great feature with full of raw takes on the perspectives of Bakary wanting to live in Europe and compares its perspectives to those that are currently living there and those that returned to West Africa. It is all about sharing stories unscripted, and letting the authenticity shine through the purpose of this film.