A Season in France

Nineteen months ago, the French teacher Abbas Mahadjir (Eriq Ebouaney), his wife Madeleine (Sandra Nkake), his son Yacine (Ibrahim Burama), his daughter Asma (Aalayna Lys) and his brother, the Literature teacher Etienne (Bibi Tanga), flee from Bangui, in the Central African Republic, to France. They succeed, except Madeleine that is killed by the militia and haunts Abbas in his dreams. He works at the fruit and flowers market, where he met the florist Carole Blaszak (Sandrine Bonnaire), who became his girlfriend, and lives in borrowed and rented apartments in the suburb of Paris. Etienne lives in a shack and works as janitor and in the security of a shop. He dates the French Martine (Léonie Simaga) and is ashamed to let her know where he lives. When the asylum of Abbas is refused by the OFPRA, he applies an appeal that is also rejected, and Abbas is warned that he must leave France within a month. Meanwhile, Etienne's shack in burned to the ground by and his application is also rejected he immolates himself at the immigration office. Abbas goes haywire, loses his job and his apartment and Carole lodges his family and him at home. But now police officers visit her to know the whereabouts of Abbas and she lies and compromises herself with the French justice system.

"Une saison en France", a.k.a. "A Season in France" (2017) is a poignant French drama by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. The plot follows the life of the African migrant Abbas Mahadjir, who lost his previous comfortable life in Bangui expecting to have a better and safer life in France. However, his difficulty to have documents and be accepted by the immigration department drive him to the situation of many immigrants, accepting low-paid unskilled jobs but keeping his dignity. The open-end fits perfectly to the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Temporada na França" ("A Season in France")