‘A DIFFERENT LOOK AT MIGRATION IN BELGIUM’

Ines Eshun (director and scriptwriter) and Aminata Demba (scriptwriter, producer and actress) are presenting the films THE LIFE OF ESTEBAN (BE, 16’, 2017) and PELIKAANSTRAAT 20 (BE, 58’, 2017) at BOZAR as part of BOZAR Connects: Africa. A programming devoted to the subject of migration in Belgium through the two films and a debate hosted by the activist, inclusion & diversity consultant and community organizer Omar Ba. 

THE LIFE OF ESTEBAN (Het Leven van Esteban), (OV NL, st EN) - Avant Première

Esteban grows up with his single mother and doesn't know who his father is. In search of his identity, he discovers that swimming is a metaphor for life itself. 

Inès Eshun was born in France, and moved to Belgium when she was six years old. She has Belgian, Estonian and Ghanaian roots. Her previous short film 'Bright Lights' was selected for Film Fest Ghent and Ciné Public festival. Her short 'The Flood' was selected for DIFF, Dhaka International Film Festival. She was one of the three laureates of the prestigious Flemish writing competition 'Babylons Interuniversity Prize' with her short story 'Broken Water'. She graduated with great distinction from the Master Program in Film directing at RITCS, Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound in 2017. 

The screening will be followed by the film “Pelikaanstraat 20” by Leslie Verbeeck, Aminata Demba and Marijn Duijvestein.

PELIKAANSTRAAT 20 (OV NL, st FR)

In Mali, the expression “aller en aventure” (setting off on an adventure) is widely known: young men are encouraged to spread their wings and leave the country to become a "real" man. Belgian actress Aminata Demba travels to Mali in the footsteps of her deceased father, to discover what drove him to undertake his journeys, before arriving in the Antwerp diamond district in the early 1970s. Her quest leads to harsh confrontations, to enlightening encounters with new migrants and especially to a more personal look at migration today.

A documentary by Leslie Verbeeck, Aminata Demba and Marijn Duijvestein © 2017 with the support of the Fonds Pascal Decroos and Vranckx en de Nomaden

Leslie Verbeeck is an award-winning filmmaker. He studied film at Luca School of Arts and obtained his bachelor's degree with honors. As a director, he works in the various fields of advertising, music videos and television and likes to experiment with animation, documentary and fiction. Currently, he is writing the script for his third short film.
Aminata Demba is a Belgian-Malian actress and presenter. In recent years she has appeared in the performances Dis-moi wie ik ben (KVS), Marieke Marieke (HZT), De moed om te doden (Toneelhuis), Futur Simple (De Maan) and Konijn met pruimen (Laika). In addition to her acting career, together with director Leslie Verbeeck she made the documentary "Pelikaanstraat 20" in which she goes in search of the migration story of her parents and at the same time explores the theme of migration from various angles.