Black Europe Film Festival

THE RIGHT TO MOVE, THE RIGHT TO STAY: CINEMA, BORDERS, BELONGING, AGING

In a time when borders harden and displacement becomes policy, this special program turns to film to explore mobility and dwelling as fundamental human rights—through stories of crossing, waiting, care, and belonging across contemporary Black Europe. Director David Bingong (The Travelers) and creators Lucía-Asué Mbomío Rubio and Laurent Léger-Adame (The Afro-Elderly Project) will join virtually for a post-screening Q&A.

ABOUT THE FILMS

THE TRAVELERS / LES VOYAGEURS | dir. David Bingong | 2025 | Cameroon / Spain | French, Spanish, Bassa | Documentary | 60 min

At the Morocco–Spain border, a group of sub-Saharan migrants waits for “boza”—the chance to cross. Attempt after attempt fails; survival becomes routine. Calling himself “the Artist,” the filmmaker keeps hope alive with songs, images, and a camera. Shot across multiple journeys, The Travelers is a documentary capturing daily life in limbo with raw immediacy—without filters—turning testimony into collective self-representation.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Director: David Bingong was born in Douala, Cameroon (1988). He began in theater as a director and actor and now lives in Madrid. He shot The Travelers between 2013 and 2015 during his journey through Africa toward Europe.

AFROMAYORES / THE AFRO-ELDERLY PROJECT | creators: Lucía-Asué Mbomío Rubio & Laurent Leger-Adame | 2025 | Spain | Spanish | Documentary / multimedia project — selected episodes | ~10 min

Afromayores is a photographic and audiovisual initiative that centers Afro elders living in Spain—foregrounding their everyday lives, migration histories, and the rarely seen realities of aging far from one’s place of origin. Born from journalist Lucía-Asué Mbomío Rubio’s recorded conversations with her father, the project builds a collective archive of memory and presence, challenging the recurring assumption that Black communities in Spain are “newly arrived.” Through intimate interviews and luminous portraiture, Afromayores insists on visibility, dignity, and intergenerational recognition.

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Creators: Lucía-Asué Mbomío Rubio is a Spanish journalist and storyteller whose work focuses on Afro-Spanish memory, belonging, and Black life in Spain. Laurent Leger-Adame is a photographer whose portraiture anchors Afromayores, crafting an affirming visual language that counters the invisibility of Afro elders.