Synopsis
A motorcycle speeds through Niger. On board, Moussa, a young Tuareg and, hidden in his vehicle, about fifty tablets of tramadol, one of the most popular narcotics in West Africa. By following Moussa, we go to meet the retailers and users of this opioid.
Director's Biography
Adoum Moussa and Morgane Wirtz met Agadez, Niger, in 2017. Both are freelance journalists and researchers. They work on issues of human rights violations, security and cross-border trafficking in Sahel and in the Maghreb. Straight away a story of friendship born. They work together on the documentary “Teghadez Agadez”. This film, directed by Morgane, presents the point of view of smugglers and migrants on migration. Adoum sometimes takes his place behind the camera and helps Morgane to access the places where the migrants live. This first feature film won the special mentions in the international documentary section at Vues d’Afrique festival, in Montreal, and the award for best feature documentary at the Nova Frontier Film Festival, in New York. Meanwhile, Morgane and Adoum work together for ARD, a German news channel for which they direct several reports. They then embark on a new project: “Tramadol”, shot in Niger and edited in Tunisia, where Morgane now lives. In this short film, the two directors follow a smuggler across Niger. On board his motorbike, he carries tramadol, an opioid sought for on the black market for its analgesic effects.