The Hectic Life of a Dismissed Worker
Director Plagnet Camille
Countries
Duration 59 min
Synopsis
The film portrays the hectic life of the “Great Z”, an engine driver of the Abidjan-Ouagadougou line for 20 years, laid off in 1995 by the National Railways of Burkina Faso following the privatization imposed by the World Bank. The film is a tragicomedy from Africa. We will see the tall and fragile silhouette of a Black, whiteface clown, both melancholy and mischievous, wandering the dusty streets of Ouagadougou and greasy bars in Bobo-Dioulasso. We will hear his peculiar language, his tormented and sharp words telling his past and current trials, his hatred and his hopes. We will watch the moving grimaces of the 54-year-old man, prematurely old from heavy drinking and crying, who stands yet the test of time laughing.
The film portrays the hectic life of the “Great Z”, an engine driver of the Abidjan-Ouagadougou line for 20 years, laid off in 1995 by the National Railways of Burkina Faso following the privatization imposed by the World Bank. The film is a tragicomedy from Africa. We will see the tall and fragile silhouette of a Black, whiteface clown, both melancholy and mischievous, wandering the dusty streets of Ouagadougou and greasy bars in Bobo-Dioulasso. We will hear his peculiar language, his tormented and sharp words telling his past and current trials, his hatred and his hopes. We will watch the moving grimaces of the 54-year-old man, prematurely old from heavy drinking and crying, who stands yet the test of time laughing.