“The show is about to begin!” At the microphone, a voice resounds. On the screen, the images of a corridor from the artists’ entrance overlap with those of a security corridor. Then three young girls are jogging. “In eleven months, I’ll be 18,” said one. In counterpoint, three young boys discuss, in Arabic. As he has just turned 18, the eldest, Hamza, has to leave.
The production maintains a certain aesthetic confusion, before using a radio news flash to explain the situation: “Forty-eight minors entered Melilla illegally last night, joining the five hundred foreign minors placed under guardianship. Surveillance is reinforced. »
The Spanish autonomous city of Melilla, which constitutes, with the enclave of Ceuta, the only land borders of the European Union on the African continent, in the north of Morocco, is a privileged crossing point for migrants. Sometimes adventure ends in tragedy. This was the case on June 24, 2022: out of nearly two thousand migrants who tried to enter Melilla by force, twenty-three were killed, according to the Moroccan authorities.
Sometimes the adventure succeeds. This is the case of young people from the reception center for unaccompanied minors to whom this very lively and moving documentary is devoted, focusing on those who have joined the NANA dance troupe, for the time of another adventure. , which will temporarily take them out of the difficulty of their daily life: the troupe is selected to participate in the “Incredible Talents” competition in Madrid.
An exceptional teacher
Bit by bit, we discover the daily life of the girls, housed in a Catholic institution. Ihsane, 13, has just arrived and joins Asia, Mounia and Shéhérazade, who dreams of being a dancer. They study, walk around and rehearse together as soon as they have five minutes to spare.
Among the boys, life is similar, except for Hamza, who has to work in a pizzeria and obtain papers. Despite his departure, Natalia, their dance teacher, gets him to stay in the troupe for the duration of the competition. Hamza came to the reception center two years ago. As with many, it was his mother who brought him to the border, so that he would have “a better life”, he repeatedly said. “Your mothers brought you here because they love you, not to get rid of you,” a nun tells teenage girls.
When leaving for Madrid, some fear the plane. We find this stress later, before going on stage. Natalia galvanizes them: “You are changing history! This documentary is also the portrait of this exceptional, attentive and passionate teacher.
Can we talk about success? That’s the whole question, even if the subject is never mentioned here. Back in Melilla, life resumes, complicated. The restaurant where Hamza worked has closed. He must go once again. “When you live away from home, everything is more difficult. »
“I hope you won’t forget us: when they leave, once they come of age, no one asks about us. Asia’s remark hits the heart. Soon, Mounia will be 18, but after four years at the center, she does not want to leave. “Wherever I go, I always leave a family behind. »
