Sira is a 17-year-old girl who lives in a small landlocked village. Rebellious, independent and very flirtatious, she is the object of many desires. She does not see her life in the village and dreams of returning to the city to afford a better life. While Sira’s father, Zan Coulibaly, has just accepted the marriage proposal of Doukouré, the richest merchant in the village, Namory arrives in the village after several years spent on a gold minning site. Namory, young and attractive, and apparently rich, is the perfect man for Sira. Between the two young people, a love affair develops to the point where Sira decides to defy her father’s will.

I am going to retake a journey that I made 21 years ago, as a young man, when I left Nigeria to try and reach Europe by road. On my journey, I turned back on the advice of a stranger. Why do other young men and women continue? I want to meet West African youth migrating today to search for a better life and through conversations with them, I will try to understand their challenges and hopes as well as the choices they make. With images of people lured into slavery and bondage along the routes in North Africa all over social media and the internet, most young people are aware of the dangers of traveling undocumented by road. More and more women are joining the ranks of those who risk this journey. I want to meet the women who take such a dangerous risk and find out what this means for evolving gender roles in African society. This journey is a reflection on own my coming-of-age story, a road movie through the landscapes and cultures of West Africa.

An African refugee ́s quiet existence in a sleepy mountain town in the south of France is upended by the arrival of a charismatic catholic priest whom she recognizes as the warlord who slaughtered her family.