Drowning in Oblivion (2007) Reviews

Belgian filmmaker Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd uses a striking visual style to tell the story of political prisoners struggling against years of abuse in this documentary. In the North African nation of Mauritania during the 1980's, a political activist group called FLAM rose up to demand equal rights for the nation's black citizens. However, Mauritania's leadership was not sympathetic to this civil rights movement, and many of the group's leaders were arrested and sent to a fortress in Oulata. Once behind bars, the men were subjected to a variety of tortures over the next several years, with many losing their lives. Director Vandeweerd combines interviews with surviving victims of the Mauritanian pogroms with stylized visuals to create a haunting portrait of men struggling to survive against long odds as well as recreating the hell their lives became. Le Cercle des Noyes (aka Drowning in Oblivion) was screened as part of the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi