DISORIENT

A polyphony of tales by migrants who return to their homeland after having lived abroad. Whether they are Vietnamese, Indian, Syrian, Iranian, Chinese, Pakistani, academics, contract workers, political refugees, businessmen or students, they all are confronted with a second exile: coming home. They also share the capacity to analyse the differences between the cultures they have lived in with humour, critical distance and lived experiences. This experimental documentary moulds this polyphony of tales in a minimalist, impressionistic form. Only a few traces of images, of travelling, of material culture, appear above the voices and soundscapes, just as there remain only shadows and memories of their presence abroad. This film is the condensed result of a long-term project – around twenty interviews conducted in different Asian countries and a series of subtle laboratory work including scratching the film tape – which evokes the reminiscences of the memories and traces of life of the encountered protagonists.