Idrissou Mora Kpai

Indochina: Through the story of Christophe, a 58 year old Afro-Vietnamese man, the film tells the story of African colonial soldiers fighting for the French in Indochina.

Border Life, shot in a border town between Benin and Nigeria, is a contemplation of space and movement. Of life pulsing through a locality set up to divide. Of unstoppable mobility where mobility is circumscribed and controlled. The camera doesn't fix things in place; it wanders. From checkpoint to city streets thronging with cars hiding smuggled goods from Italy and Thailand, from ambulant bankers to fishermen turned traffickers, a never-ending rush. A never-ending hustle. No time to stop for long conversations. No conventional characters but lives in motion captured for a fragment of a second. This essay film turns into an invitation to experience the daily life of those who live on and from the border, in fragments, in rhythms, in relentless flux.

In downtown Charleston, South Carolina, black owned convenient stores like Joe's have almost disappeared. Joe is fighting to keep his but he knows that its survival depends on the survival of his local community.