In the presence of the director Melanie Gärtner.

It is just a few kilometers from North Africa to the European continent. Hoping for a better life on the other side, thousands still cross this route. Not many survive this journey, yet Yves has already taken it twice, because he is certain that he has to leave. The injustice and corruption in his home country Cameroon has become unbearable to him. He sets out to Europe in a dinghy to start – like so many others – a new, more successful life. After travelling through Morocco he reaches Spain, where he is not allowed to stay.

What made Yves leave his friends and family behind? That is the question Frankfurt director Melanie Gärtner wants to investigate. She talks to Yves about his past and then travels to Cameroon to visit his family. She takes video messages of Yves with her to show to his family – the first sign of life in eight years.

In her work, Melanie Gärtner, who was already a guest at LICHTER in 2013 with Im Land dazwischen, focuses on portraying refugees and on giving them a voice to tell their stories. The respectful handling of a sensitive and current topic has to be the reason that the film premiered at International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam.