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Musa Camara (Mauritania, 28 years old) doesn’t have a job. He spends his days alone, wondering around the beautiful forests and chaotic residential areas that surround Cassà de la Selva, the village he lives in. He tries to find pinecones and brushwood to gather which he later sells to small businesses in the area. With the tiny profit from these transactions, this young African man lives meagerly in a house shared with other migrants. Due to the risky nature of this work, Musa occasionally tries to find work in the residential areas. Often though, he doesn’t know what to do and simply wanders around. He lives on the fringes of 21st century European society, but his job is the oldest in existence: the gathering of nature’s resources. With a slow tempo and few words, the camera follows Musa in his adventures around the daily life of a country that still suffers the ravaging consequences of a burst housing bubble. Musa fights to survive in a primitive, beautiful way. UNDERGROWTH is a witness to the collision between a young African man and the Spanish society he unsuccessfully tries to integrate. Somehow, Musa seems to keep his spirits high: the rivers of his sadness ow underground.
Specs
77 minutes, Spain, 2017.
Cast: Musa Camara, Sambia Diallo, Deborah Marín.
Cinematographer: Aïda Torrent
Written and edited by David Gutiérrez Camps
Producer: John Bartleby, Albert Baquero
Director: David Gutiérrez Camps
Film festivals
Seville European Film Festival
D’A Film Festival Barcelona
New Horizons Film Festival Wroclaw
Temporada Alta
Cinespaña, Festival de Cine Español de Toulouse
Atlántida Film Festival
Critic’s quotes
“A pure and beautiful work”, Jordi Batlle Caminal, La Vanguardia.
“The exposition of the migrant workers conditions is revealing”, Francisco Marinero, El Mundo.
“A beautiful visual poem”, Què fem? La Vanguardia.
“The film has a rare hipnotic effect that attracts the audience for its simplicity”, Javier Martín Corral, Redrum.
“It breathes life and truth in every frame”, Jordi Batlle Caminal, La Vanguardia.
“A good example of work that questions the aesthetic and narrative limits of documentary, using them to créate a very interesting film”, Pablo Vázquez Pérez, Cine Maldito.