The Pirogue

Baye Laye is the captain of a fishing pirogue. Like many of his Senegalese countrymen he sometimes dreams of new horizons where he could make a better living for his family. When he is offered the job of taking one of the many pirogues that head for Europe by way of the Canary Islands, he accepts reluctantly, knowing very well the dangers ahead. He sets out in charge of thirty men who do not all speak the same language and some of whom have never seen the sea, and meets many perils on the way. The film does not build the voyage as an adventure; it shows the days inside the boat, the thirst and the moments of decision. Souleymane Seye Ndiaye plays the lead in Moussa Toure’s eighty seven minute Senegalese film, completed in 2012.