Dinner with Koropa

Interview with Laura Henno, director of Koropa

 How did you make Koropa? Did you conduct research on clandestine migrant smugglers?
I’ve been working on clandestine migration since 2009, first in Rome then Reunion Island and Calais. It was on Reunion Island that I found out about the migratory situation between the Comoros and Mayotte. I worked there for three successive years on a series of photographs in collaboration with young clandestine Comorians. Their tales gave me my first exposure to the role of smugglers in that area. In 2013, I was able to go the the Comoros alone with the goal of meeting some smugglers. I wanted to start on a work revolving around the figure of the smuggler. I knew that they used children more and more to pilot the kwassas (small, rapid Comorian fishing canoes) in their place. The objective of this initial scouting mission was to meet these child co-pilots. I met Ben and Patron after three weeks of research in Anjouan. It was a decisive encounter. I was witness to an extremely complex relationship between a child and an adult that raised lots of questions. I was literally struck by Patron, his story, his fragility coupled with a fierce strength, his destiny. In this, there were issues that allowed me to address clandestine passage from a different angle. I wrote a short storyline in the wake of our encounter based on Patron’s apprenticeship. Two days after our encounter, I filmed them at sea for five days. The majority of Koropa was filmed during this first scouting mission. Two years later, I was able to film them again and complete the film.

 Why didn’t you address the question of the smuggler’s “salary”?
At that time, Patron was still an apprentice. Commander Ben is considered a “Fundi” in the Comoros: a master who provides instruction and who is respected for that. For him, to be a Commander, that is a smuggler, it is a trade, even if it is illegal. The apprentices start getting paid once they have reached a certain level.

 Did you make Koropa as the account of an initiatory ritual, or as a satirical job interview?
Koropa addresses clandestine passage as an initiatory rite. This is Patron’s reality, which defines his relationship with Ben. Patron was taken in by Ben when he was five years old. Since then, he has been in training to become a commander.
I met Patron upon the occasion of his first “journey”, a decisive moment for both of us. To be trusted with the responsibility of navigating a boat with about ten passengers on board is a real test. The risks are real and the crossing is dangerous. The pressure Ben places on him is real too.

 You question the relationship between childhood and adulthood in Koropa. Why were you interested in this theme and do you think you’ll make other films addressing this subject?
At that time, I was also working on a project with alienated foreign youth in France, clandestine teenagers. I wanted to highlight the role children had in this clandestine crossing. I met lots of smugglers and young co-pilots in the Comoros. Patron was the youngest, and it’s the only “work apprenticeship” that I witnessed.
All the other teens weren’t trained to operate these boats. They were unemployed youth that the commanders deceived by offering easy routes and fast money.
The connection that unites Patron and Ben is special. He sees Patron as a son and at the same time takes advantage of him and has him take risks in his place. I still continue to film them. I was able to shoot two more times in 2015 and 2016. Koropa is the first episode of a trilogy focusing on their story. I am working on a second short film about Patron who has now moved to Mayotte to live. A feature-length film is also in the works: M’Tsamboro will expand on Patron’s and Ben’s story in the geopolitical context of the Comoros and Mayotte.

 Where did the shooting take place? Why did you insist on letting the viewer know that the action took place near Mayotte instead of letting the viewer come up with his own idea and to think for example that it took place in the Mediterranean?
Koropa was shot at sea between Anjouan and Mayotte. It was essential to give context to the film. Firstly, because I am addressing a particular traffic that happens in this way in the Indian Ocean. Secondly, and this is the main reason, the migration issue between the Comoros and Mayotte is overlooked. We don’t speak of it much in France even though we are dealing with a French border. Mayotte is part of the Comorian archipelago, which has long been occupied by France. The traditional crossings between the Comoros and Mayotte have been illegal since the Balladur Visa in 1995. Thus, there are additional geopolitical issues and a French colonial past. It is a situation I feel we need to address.

 The different noises seemed to be tied to particular moments, like a sonorous path. Was this intentional, and how did you work with sound effects in Koropa.
The sound in the film is the result of meticulous work with the sound engineer, Tristan Pontécaille. During the shoot, I was fascinated by the sound of the kwassa. When we are in the middle of the sea, at night, in such a rickety boat, the sounds are amplified. Different frequencies mix with the motor: surf, voices, faraway sounds, and depending on where our attention lies, we are more apt to notice this or that frequency. The film’s opening sequence was shot on the first day. There was a striking intensity in Patron’s eyes and a palpable tension through his entire body which intensified this nocturnal journey. That’s what I tried to recreate with the sound.

 Lastly, in Koropa you address the responsibility of the smugglers from different points of view: legal, emotional, social… What do you think of the political question of the dismantling of these clandestine “passage” networks?
If you are referring to the dismantlement of the Calais “Jungle” encampment, or the hunt for migrants that has been going on in Paris the last few months, I find it revolting. What was called the “jungle” was the reconstitution of an indispensable form of society necessary for survival. It was a little town with its own school, places of worship, businesses… Landmarks that allowed migrants to have a semblance of normal life, to draw from this the resources necessary to plan for the future as they awaited passage, or the approval of their asylum demands. For me, this dismantling is basically the denial of their humanity, and dispersing them all over France does nothing but reduce their visibility and their communal strength.

 Any cinematic coups de cœur in the past year you’d like to tell us about?
The Other Side by Roberto Minervini and Fire at Sea by Gianfranco Rosi.

 If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year?
I’m not very familiar with festivals as Koropa is my first film. The Clermont-Ferrand festival is a major one and it’s already a wonderful opportunity for the showing of the film. I hope it resonates with much of the audience.

Koropa is being shown in National Competition F9.