"I saw a plane in the sky and I said to myself: why do you have all these things? I want to know how you make them." The odyssey of clandestine migration routes and the difficulties of integrating into Western societies under strain are an apparently inexhaustible source of inspiration for contemporary cinema (as demonstrated by Hope, for example, Souleymane’s Story by Boris Lojkine, or Io capitano by Matteo Garrone), and recent events in Ceuta show just how politically explosive the issue can be. It is into this particular cinematic terrain that Spaniard Dani Sancho has ambitiously ventured with his first feature film, North to Paradise, which was released back in June in his home country and presented in competition, as an international premiere, in the 13th Saint-Jean-de-Luz Film Festival.

"I’ve made my decision, I’m going to the land of the white man." Adapted by Guillem Clua from an autobiographical book by human-rights activist Ousman Umar, the odyssey begins in a small Ghanaian village where the story’s protagonist, a newborn, narrowly escapes ("the first miracle of my life") a ritual drowning (local tradition would have had him accompany his mother, who died during childbirth, to the grave). An out-of-the-ordinary destiny soon takes shape, because, as a teenager in the 1990s, spurred by boundless curiosity ("I want to learn, to understand their world"), Ousman decides to leave his family and his village where life is good to set out for Europe. Five years later, he lands on a beach in Fuerteventura and, after a sojourn at the Foreigners’ Internment Centre ("they’re going to ask you a lot of questions; one wrong answer and you’ll be sent back home"), his status as an unaccompanied minor opens the doors to what he thinks is paradise ("a train ticket to Barcelona, a banana and a sandwich: those were my belongings for starting a new life"). But his optimism will be tested and, most importantly, he keeps quiet about the tribulations he endured during his long journey to Europe...

Covering 21,333 km and passing through eight countries (Ghana, Niger, Libya, Algeria, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Spain), having started out as an illiterate youngster but ultimately completing the entire Spanish school curriculum in six years and eventually addressing the UN in 2022 after developing the NGO NASCO Feeling Minds (which supports education in Africa), the exceptional trajectory of Ousman Umar boasted all the necessary ingredients for a film of great scope. Built on a cleverly structured three-part screenplay, the feature leans on charismatic performers (young Benjamin Kakraba and Spain’s Emma Vilarasau as a providential guardian angel) to tell the story of an emblematic migration, without ever masking the price which needs to be paid to fulfil the protagonist’s dreams, whilst also endeavouring not to overwhelm viewers with brutal images. This desire to preserve a "mainstream" sheen is both the film’s strength (allowing access to a wider audience) and its weakness (veering into benevolent simplicity), though presenting the truth in a "soft" register doesn’t make the movie any less affecting.

North to Paradise was produced by Mundo Cero Crea, Arcadia Motion Pictures and Atresmedia Cine with Mundo Cero AIE, A Contracorriente Films and French company Noodles Production. Latido Films are handling international sales.