I travelled across Mauritania to find a tree that I saw from my window in Belgium. It wasn't a mythical tree, but rather one that could be anywhere. On my way, I met men and women who shared their perception of this quest and in doing so, in a roundabout way they shared some of their visions of the world and of existence. For some, my tree was the sign from the spirits, of the invisible or a call from light. For others, it was the symbol of a history, a culture or the end of a period in time. For yet others, it was a tree that you see only when you get lost... This documentary film, Far away roots, is a poetic journey in search of elsewhere and in search of the other ways of thinking. It's also the story of an unfinished love for a women who stayed behind...


Documentary 75 min, 2002
Beta digital 16/9 Color Dolby SRD

Director Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd
Photography Philippe Guilbert
Photography Philippe Jadot
Editing Philippe Boucq
Sound editing Jean-Luc Fichefet
Mixing Jean-Luc Fichefet
OV Arabic, french (Sub-titles : french, english)


Festivals

Festival du film de Sainte Livrade 2003 -
FESPACO (Burkina Faso)-
Vues d'Afrique (Canada) -
Munich (Allemagne) -
Lussas and Gentilly (France) -
Festival documentarys sur grand écran de Paris (France)
Etats généraux du film documentary de Lussas (France)

2006 -
Rencontres cinéma du réel à l'imaginaire -
Manosque (France) 2007

Prices
Premier prix RECIDAK aux rencontres cinématographiques de DAKAR 2002

Diffusions
RTBF (B) -
Forum Cinéma,
sorties en salle à Dakar, Thiès and Tambacounda.
Cinéma des cinéastes (Paris)