Shattering Shadow

In a languid coastal village in Ethiopia, young fisherman Adisu is affected by the violence of war. He is forced to leave his home in order to survive, and wanders into the desert. He often roams around alone; now and again he encounters someone else. Forty years later, an old man sits in a taxi in Liège, thinking of the past. The two characters seem worlds away, but it is the same man. This dreamy, subtle debut by Alain-Pascal Housiaux and Patrick Dechesne is told through memories triggered by observations of present events. The nocturnal industrial landscape around Liège causes Adisu to think of the desert; a dead bird, of hunting for food. In the meantime, every night he dreams of the woman he met so many years ago on those smooth rocks. He never saw her again. In spite of the war that drove him from his home, Adisu feels a desire for a particular place and time that can never be fulfilled.