L’été de Jahia (LUXFILMFEST)

Olivier MEYS, 93 min, - Belgium, Luxembourg, France
Jahia, a sixteen-year-old from Burkina Faso, lives in a center for asylum seekers in the Belgian countryside. With few friends and fewer prospects, her life is rudderless. But when the vibrant Belarussian teenager Mila arrives, a friendship is quickly formed which will change Jahia’s life forever.The story of an unlikely friendship unfolding between two girls who must navigate their adolescence in a perpetual state of limbo.
Director Olivier Meys handles their quest for asylum with a sensitivity and nuance which is underscored by the magnetic performances of the two lead actresses, themselves both screen newcomers who relied on their own experiences with migration to inform their roles...