La Mort de la gazelle

Since the late 1980s, a sporadic guerrilla war has plagued northern Niger. In February 2007, a group of armed men claiming to be from the Nigerians’ Movement for Justice (NMJ) attacked an army barracks. One year later, hundreds have joined up with the MNJ in the Air mountains. La mort de la gazelle captures these men at unsettled time between war and peace, when training for war is still largely dominated by peacetime activities, when the guerrilla in friendly territory is still amassing its forces. Everything speeds up during an expedition into the desert, when the guerrilla’s four-wheel drives encounter a gazelle. The cruel game of war can thus begin. (Yann Lardeau)