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NEW GOAL : 8600 euros

We are very grateful to 101 supporters who allowed us to reach the goal of 5200 euros. Thanks to them we have been able to shoot the documentary movie River Nomads (forthcoming).

As we announced it previously, we really hope the project will receive more than we asked in order to buy:

- mobile solar energy panels and lightkits (including a lamp and a multifunction phonestick) for the groups of River nomads we filmed (2000 euros).

- copyrights for the wonderful music produced by Vieux Farka Touré & Raichel collective – 2015 album (1400 euros).

(see details below in 'What the funds are for?')

Crowdfunding a humanist documentary movie

This 'crowd funding' initiative offers the opportunity to support the making of a documentary movie on the River Nomads of the middle Niger.

This documentary movie follows the story of Mohamadou who is a fisherman and importantly the pilot of a group of river nomads. Mohamadou guides a convoy of six to ten pirogues from Nigeria to Mali in the name of his father who learned him to read the potential hazards from the surface of the waters. The travel between Nigeria and Mali is contingent to the level of the water in the Niger river. As the average level of the water decreases, the level of uncertainty rises. In addition, the river nomads depend on the willingness of police authorities and customs to allow them to cross borders. There is no warrantee that they will reach their final destination from Nigeria to Northern Mali. The shooting of this story will take place south of Niamey (in Niger) in the beautiful landscape of the Niger river along the National parc W where wildlife (elephants, hippos) can be observed from the river banks.

Given the constraints of the river nomads to travel upstream while the level of the water is high, the shooting of the movie will take place from late December 2014 to January 2015. We believe this project has the potential to become a beautiful crowd funded documentary movie. We urgently need the funds to make this project.
We hope that you want to be part of that 'crowd'.

Donors will receive presents (DVD of the movie, CD of the soundtrack by Vieux Farka Touré & Raichel collective “the Paris session” – forthcoming 2015, postcards and nice handicraft from Niger depending on the amount provided).

Why this movie?

I, Eric Hahonou, stayed in Niger with my family for many years while I was a PhD student in anthropology. In 2000, I bought a small motorized pirogue to travel on the Niger river. In 2001, Sani and I met the river nomads around the W National Park. They had problem with engine spark plugs and we gave them a pair so that they could continue their trip. When I understood that the whole family was traveling from Nigeria to Mali, I found their lifestyle fascinating. A few years later, Sani a very good friend of mine, introduced me to Mohamadou, the pilot of a group of river nomads. As you can imagine, the friends of my friends are my friends. We spent some time at Garidji Island (South of Ayorou in the Western part of the Republic of Niger) where Mohamadou lives. He explained to us the customs and police hassies against strangers and the difficulties linked to environmental degradation (lower water levels, less fish) as well as his work as a pilot and his sometimes difficult relation to his father. Then came the idea of the movie…

Why a humanist documentary movie?

For most people, the Sahel is associated to famines and conflicts, rebellions and jihadism, military putsch and the like. This indeed happens and the media as well as documentary movies are good at promoting this kind of information. Following the tradition of the humanist cinema and photography, my aim is to show the beauty of the daily life of people and their humanist values (solidarity, tolerance, respect and dignity). I would like to present an alternative picture of what life in the Sahel looks like among ordinary citizens. I want to show something else, something that connect us to the everyday life of people in the Sahel, individuals who encounter relations (both pleasant and difficult) with their relatives, families like us who eventually have chosen to move to make a living.
With the movement of people from one place to another comes the concept of immigration and, of course, those of strangerness and strangerhood. These dimension will be particularly present in this movie that points out that ‘all people here come from someplace else’ (‘tous les gens d’ici sont d’ailleurs’).
In a world governed by sedentary people, nomadic people have long been the ideal scapegoat of the problems in the society. Strangers may also well be those who come with resources. This dynamic of integration and exclusion is a universal one. The river nomads in this documentary movie are no exceptions to it.
Making a documentary movie for me is about telling stories of people I like and admire, people’s whose lifestyle fascinates me. Maybe because the hunter, the fisherman, the gatherer, the wanderer is alive in me.
Finally, whereas the idea of the movie is initially Eric’s, the film project results from a collective dynamic that includes Sani, Mohamadou, Fredéric, Lotte and myself (see pictures).

The crew

Mohamadou lives on Garidji Island, near Ayorou (North Niger). He is the pilot. The story is about him... therefore, if you want to know more about him, you might be interested in sponsoring this movie project.

Sani Boureima and Lotte Pelckmans. Lotte is an anthropologist who has been working on former nomadic cattle herders (Fulani) in central Mali since 2001. She has done work on internal african slavery, social inequality, human rights, social movements and migration. Since she has a longstanding fascination with water, she is highly motivated to embark on this last journey and enjoy the calm of travelling the river Niger. She has met the river nomads the first time with Eric in 2012, when they granted permission and expressed their enthusiasm for a documentary about their life. Lotte's goal is to get one or two women and the role of religion in the picture.

Sani Boureima was born and grew up in Niamey (Niger) along the Niger river where his father owned a plot of land. He did not attend much school but learned a bit of French and a lot of Zarma and Hausa. His father taught him how to cultivate, to fish and to be a good muslim. Armed with his skills, courage and openness, Sani has learned many trades. His friendship and collaboration with Eric led him to become a professional tour operator on the Niger river. He knows the river by heart between Gaya and Niamey where he used to travel with tourists. He also travelled twice to Timbuktu with tourists until the war broke out in Mali.

Fredéric Châles lives in France, near Tours. He is a professional photographer who turned to camera and video. He travels around the world to produce video reports, mainly on sport events. We met in Paris in 2009 and decided to shoot a movie on the struggles of slaves' descendants in the Northern part of Benin where Eric had conducted research. The documentary film entitled Yesterday's slaves came out in 2011. Together with Lotte, Eric and Fred's family, we embarked on the River nomad project in December 2013. He is the one to praise for the nice pictures of the teaser.

Eric Hahonou is an anthropologist specialized on Western Niger where he stayed for 7 years. He studied various issues in African contexts but his core interest lies in the study of marginalized groups. He made a first documentary with Frederic and Camilla Strandsbjerg (Yesterday's slaves, 2011) on the struggles of people of slave origins in Northern Benin. He is teaching and doing research at Roskilde University (Denmark). Eric has a passion for fishing and travelling. No wonder he fell in love for the river nomads...

Background information

Amongst the many groups which inhabit the river banks and islands scattered along the 4200 kilometers of the Niger river, the Kebbawa stand out for their peculiar nomadic lifestyle. Little is known about these migrant fishermen who form convoys of large wooden boats (called ‘pinasses’) on which they navigate together from Northern Nigeria (Yauri, Lake Kainji) to North-Western Niger (around Ayorou) and Eastern Mali (Ansongo, Gao, Timbuktu) where fish is abundant during the dry season. At the head of each convoy stands a man whose role is to guide safely the boats from Nigeria to Niger/Mali. The pilot is the one who makes sure the boats will not hit a rock, take a blind way, or run aground on a shoal in the river.

♪♫♪♫♪ Music

The music of the teaser (Tidhar) is an excerpt from “the Paris session”, generously provided by Vieux Farka Touré & Raichel collective– forthcoming album 2015. A music at the crossroad of the cultural atmosphere of the Sahel and the melancholic and emotional music of the Middle East. Importantly it is a rhythmic music which will correspond to the rhythm of the story alternatively slow and rapid, with suspense and drama as well as calm and poetic. This is meant to evoke an adventure on the Niger river…

Les Nomades du fleuve Niger

Les Nomades du fleuve Niger