Brussels, August 1999. Two teenagers from Guinea are found dead in the undercarriage of a plane from Conakry. Each year, thousands of young Africans like them risk their lives to flee a continent scourged by war and endemic poverty. Shocked by this growing phenomenon, the Senegal-born director Musa Dieng Kala returns to Dakar, where he grew up, and asks the painful question: Has God Forsaken Africa? The answer is bitter. As he films five young adults seeking to immigrate to the West at any cost, the filmmaker unearths the impotence of individuals faced with international indifference and the unconcern of the leaders of a society emptied of its resources and incapable of meeting its needs. A moving film that makes the case for a global ecology in which no nation or people is abandoned.

2008, 61 min 09 s

Directed by Musa Dieng Kala
Produced by Colette Loumède, Christian Medawar
Production Agency : Office national du film du Canada

Participation
Kader
Ibrahima
Ahmadou
Omar
Djiby
Mor Sène
Abib Ndao
Madior Ndiaye
Papa Barry
Aïcha Diouf
Modou N'Diaye
Nogaye Mboup
Adja Barry
Diallo Thierno

Research: Musa Dieng Kala
Script: Musa Dieng Kala
Direction: Musa Dieng Kala
Script consultant: Raymonde Provencher
Camera: Alex Margineanu
Location sound : Louis Léger
Production manager: Raymonde Provencher
Production assistant: Pierre Lecomte
Picture editing: Marie Hamelin
Sound editing: Catherine Van Der Donckt, Bruno Pucella
Line producer - development (Associate producer - development): Mahalia Verna
Location photographer (Stills photographer): Alex Margineanu
Technical support - editing (Digital editing technician): Danielle Raymond, Isabelle Painchaud
Titles: Gaspard Gaudreau
On-line editing: Denis Pilon
Narration: Musa Dieng Kala, Famara Kujabi
Narration recording: Luc Léger
Voice director : Production René Gagnon inc.
Adaptation: Robert Paquin
Subtitling: Robert Paquin
Translation: Leah Kosatsky
Subtitling: Leah Kosatsky
Foley (Sound effects creation): Lise Wedlock
Foley recording : Technicolor, Services créatifs, Montréal
Sound mixer (Re-recording): Luc Léger
Original music: Musa Dieng Kala
Vocals: Musa Dieng Kala
Keyboard: Robert Lafond
Programming: Robert Lafond
Visual archives research: Michèle Houle
Rights acquisition (Clearances): Michèle Houle
Marketing officer (Marketing manager): François Jacques
Marketing manager - assistance : Solen Labrie Trépanier
Administrator: Manon Provencher
Production coordinator: Nathalie Cloutier
Administrative assistant: Dominique Brunet
Technical co-ordinator: Richard Cliche
Delegate producers: Maryse Chapdelaine, Christiane Germain
Executive producers: Yves Bisaillon, Colette Loumède
Producers: Colette Loumède, Christian Medawar

DVD Has God Forsaken Africa? Also available in French
Dieu a-t-il quitté l'Afrique ?


FESTIVALS / AWARDS

2009 | Freeze Frame International Children Film Festival | Winnipeg, Canada | From March 05, 2009 to March 15, 2009
* Selection

2009 | 21th FESPACO | OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso | from february 28, 2009 to March 7, 2009 | www.fespaco.bf
* Prix du jeune talent (Donator : Bank of Africa)
Value: 2 000 000 Fcfa + trophy

2009 | 27e Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois | QUEBEC, Canada | 27 février 2009
* Prix AQCC/Meilleur court et moyen documentaire - décerné par l'Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma (AQCC)