Letters from Alou (Spanish: Las cartas de Alou) is 1990 Spanish film directed and written by Montxo Armendáriz.

Letters from Alou
Directed byMontxo Armendáriz
Screenplay byMontxo Armendáriz
Produced byElías Querejeta, TVE, Espanya 1990
StarringMulie Jarju, Eulalia Ramón, Ahmed El-Maaroufi, Akonio Dolo, Albert Vidal, Rosa Morata, Margarita Calahorra, Mamadou Lamine, Ly Babali, M'Barick Guisse
CinematographyAlfredo F. Mayo
Edited byRori Sainz de Rozas
Music byLuis Mendo, Bernardo Fúster
Release date
  • 1990 (1990)
Running time
92 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Synopsis

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Alou, a Senegalese man that has entered Spain illegally, can only find occasional jobs due to his situation. Thanks to the letters he sends regularly to his parents, we hear of his experiences and feelings as he laboriously tries to be integrated into Spanish society. He starts out on the coast of Almeria, working in the greenhouses. Then he travels to Madrid where he first comes into contact with illegal sales. He then makes his way to Segria, to work harvesting fruit, and, finally, to Barcelona, where he works in the clothes shop of another African immigrant. His adventure comes to an abrupt end when he's arrested by the police. But he crosses the Strait again, closing the circle that leaves a door open to hope.

Awards and nominations

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Nominated

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  • Goya Awards
    • Best Director (Montxo Armendáriz)
    • Best Editing (Rosario Sáinz de Rozas)
    • Best Film
    • Best Production Supervision (Primitivo Álvaro)
    • Best Sound (Eduardo Fernández and Pierre Lorrain)
    • Best Special Effects (Reyes Abades and Juan Ramón Molina)

References

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  • Letters from Alou at IMDb
  • African Film Festival of Cordoba-FCAT (license CC BY-SA-3.0)
  • Deveny, Thomas G. (2012). Migration in Contemporary Hispanic Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 26–34. ISBN 9780810885059.