Ajyal Film Club
When a sudden move upends home, a 12-year-old shields her little brother by turning their days into a film in which he stars. Between new neighbours, empty cupboards and nights without electricity, imagination becomes a protective lens and a way to keep going. As help arrives from unexpected places, the children learn to ask, receive and rebuild. A tender reminder that what we tell ourselves can save us, and that solidarity can turn strangers into family.
When a sudden move upends home, a 12-year-old shields her little brother by turning their days into a film in which he stars. Between new neighbours, empty cupboards and nights without electricity, imagination becomes a protective lens and a way to keep going. As help arrives from unexpected places, the children learn to ask, receive and rebuild. A tender reminder that what we tell ourselves can save us, and that solidarity can turn strangers into family.
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A family must leave their flat and begin again in a new neighbourhood. To protect her younger brother from fear and shame, a 12-year-old recasts their upheaval as a film shoot with him as the lead. Daily survival takes centre stage: no fridge, little furniture, intermittent power. With mischief and resolve, the children improvise a life, helped by new friends Vanessa and Lamin, and learn that even a sparse home can hold pride. The city around them shifts from hostile to welcoming as Mamafatou, Roc and others show that community can be found anywhere.
Imagination, here, is not escape but ballast. By narrating events in her own way, the girl discovers she can love a life that is still hard. When the burdens their mother carries begin to spill onto small shoulders, she recognises the weight and has the courage to ask for help from relatives, neighbours and social services. Made through meticulously crafted stop-motion animation, it invites us to reconsider our perspective on others, to discover the family we didn’t know we had, and to accept that we all share a vital power: the ability to choose how we respond to what happens to us.
A family must leave their flat and begin again in a new neighbourhood. To protect her younger brother from fear and shame, a 12-year-old recasts their upheaval as a film shoot with him as the lead. Daily survival takes centre stage: no fridge, little furniture, intermittent power. With mischief and resolve, the children improvise a life, helped by new friends Vanessa and Lamin, and learn that even a sparse home can hold pride. The city around them shifts from hostile to welcoming as Mamafatou, Roc and others show that community can be found anywhere.
Imagination, here, is not escape but ballast. By narrating events in her own way, the girl discovers she can love a life that is still hard. When the burdens their mother carries begin to spill onto small shoulders, she recognises the weight and has the courage to ask for help from relatives, neighbours and social services. Made through meticulously crafted stop-motion animation, it invites us to reconsider our perspective on others, to discover the family we didn’t know we had, and to accept that we all share a vital power: the ability to choose how we respond to what happens to us.
