Hustling a living in Togo - Fishing, listening to UB40 and smoking weed - Film review

Les Hustlers -  The following short film review is by Suzy Nelson-Pollard. It’s that one week of the year where the citizens of Nyon and cinemaphiles from far and wide, get the opportunity to travel across the world, from the comfort of the cinemas of Vision du Réel. Screening  Tuesday 29th April at 1600 at the Capitole 2, the film “Les Hustlers” directed by Amah Egome, shows the lives of fishermen living in the Katanga ghetto of Lomé, Togo.

Living in shantytowns with their families, the men complement to their fishing revenues by doing odd jobs, often illegal, such as stealing barrels of gasoline. Chanting their way through the hard physical labour of fishing, saying prayers before drinking deep shots of alcohol, and singing along to UB40 songs by candlelight whilst smoking weed, the men find ways to get through their days. They complain about having to supplement their jobs illegally, and how they are treated and ostracised by authorities. “I am a conscientious delinquent” one man says. Meanwhile the feisty women of the bidonville (shanty town) go about their daily chores, lamenting the bad company that their husbands keep. Children chase each other around the slum, sulky teenagers refuse to go to school and arguments break out.

Often observational films with no particular message can be dull and slow, but others give you the opportunity to travel, as a non-judgmental fly on the wall. Les Hustlers gives you that chance, to snoop at the lives of a community living on the margins of society, without feeling that the scenes were staged or that conclusions have to be drawn. Tickets to the screening can now be bought online