Echagh (The Well)

Echagh (The Well) is a research film on a Tuareg Fraction called Igorareine. They live in a locality called Echgah situated to 40 km in the northest from Gao, nothern Mali. They basically look after sheep, goats, camels, cattle, and have been practising a nomadic life for generations. Nowadays, some of them are about to leave this ancestral way of life due to many loss of animals caused by the desertification of the Sahara. That is how they settled in the surrounding of a colonial well, called Echgh in 1988. A decade later, they created a primary school for their children. Since then, they are thinking about another way of life. But it should be noticed that this newly introduced school system is subject of many interpretations in Echagh. Some of them believes in other opportunities that school may bring about. In contrast others see it as a device which threatens their traditional way of life. Within such a divergent context, the film explores the life choices of three kids.