Michaël Andrianaly
France, Madagascar | 2023 | 52 min
World premiere
Language : x-mal
Subtitles : French, English
Jelco, Justin, Rabetsy and Mamy work in a car wash in Tamatave, the economic capital of Madagascar. As illegal immigrants, they face discrimination both from their bosses and the local residents, who accuse them of sparking the violence that is tearing through the neighbourhood. Gwetto gives a voice to the ‘economically displaced’, in a polyphonic tale of hope and survival.
Jelco, Justin, Rabetsy and Mamy are friends who work in a car wash in Tamatave, the economic capital of Madagascar. As undocumented workers who come from all over the country, they spend long hours slaving away for a miserable wage. Their omnipotent and invisible boss takes advantage of their situation, using a surveillance camera to monitor their every move. Violence is never far away in this district of Tamatave. Theft and assault are common, and the residents are worried, especially since rumours are circulating that Jelco and his friends might be responsible for the violence. Through a polyphonic narrative, Gwetto gives a voice to the “economically displaced” of Madagascar, who are greatly discriminated against in their own country. Brotherhood and solidarity provide an indispensable means of survival, protecting these young men as much as possible from the various manifestations of violence that punctuate their daily lives. Gwetto is a humanist story that is both a parable of freedom and of hope for a better future, and a spotlight on the disastrous economic reality of a generation of Malagasy people.
Bastien Bento
