Balgandharva (2011)

Alphonse is a 70 years old man, born and raised in Benin, left his country and his people with the promise to come back home… But he never did. When Alphonse receives the news that his sister Veronique is ill, it seems to him that time has past too long and that he has to go and see her. Alphonse will have to face the past and the present of his homeland. He will have to talk and explain 40 years of silence, shame and disillusion. To his sister who has been waiting for him, also to his mother, who died without seeing him back. “The door of no return” is a journey from north to south and south to north, from the present to the past, from here to beyond. An adventure back to the starting point. An open reflection about all the questions arising from the personal conflict of a man divided by the emigrant who has gone and the immigrant who has never returned. It is the unique and universal story of Alphonse Zannou.

This story is about how an old man tried to show his grandson the preciousness and beauty of life in a no win situation such as cancer. It is about keeping a positive attitude towards life.