Fifty years ago, the entire Creole population of the Chagos Islands were forcibly removed from their homes by British forces in order to make way for a US military base. Families were torn apart, scattered between the Seychelles and Mauritius, where they endured enormous economic hardships and discrimination. In Olivier Magis’ documentary, the horrors of those nights are painfully alive. Over atmospheric shots of rippling ocean waves we hear shocking first-person accounts of people throwing themselves overboard and small babies dying during these arduous journeys.
Sabrina, a second-generation exile, carries this startlingly recent legacy on her indefatigable shoulders as she fights for the rights of her people to return to their homeland. Perpetually displaced, many of the Chagosian refugees currently living in England face insurmountable financial precariousness and get little state support. Their fervent protests outside the House of Lords also seem to fall on deaf ears: in 2016 the UK government decided against a resettlement of the islanders, citing monetary costs.
While Sabrina’s campaign is hampered by endless obstacles, moments of solidarity shine through; a major section of the film is dedicated to the camaraderie of a Chagosian football team who participate in the 2016 World Cup for stateless and diaspora groups. As a Chagosian song is played before a match, it not only rouses the spirit of the young athletes but also becomes a searing proclamation of statehood. There are some clumsy formal choices – Sabrina’s meetings with activists in the US are inexplicably scored to a jazzy improvisation – but this film is a damning reminder of a cruel imperialist intervention whose ramifications remain largely unfamiliar to the general public.
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