Three Ivorian women from different generations vie for a better life in an indifferent in Tunisia in Erige Sehiri’s subtle, beautiful and bracing docudrama anchored by her signature naturalism and compassion.
A bittersweet celebration of endurance and sacrifice with notable newcomer Debora Lobe Naney giving a winning performance as a vibrant spirit, determined to survive everything that life throws at her.
Promised Sky 2025
Promis le ciel
With no formal introduction, Erige Sehiri thrusts the viewer into the world of three Ivorian women in a country that has grown hostile towards African migrants in the past few years. The three roommates are caring for a little girl who recently survived a migrant shipwreck as each struggle to find their place in a country with modest prospects.
Marie (Aïssa Maïga) is a former journalist turned pastor of her church’s congregation; Naney (Debora Lobe Naney) is an undocumented mother hustling to make a proper living in order to bring her adolescent daughter to Tunisia; Jolie (Laetitia Ky) is a documented engineering student who feels out of a place in a country she struggles to be herself in.
Sehiri graciously opens up the little-known world of African migrants in North Africa, delicately documenting the everyday battles of her three heroines while celebrating their comradeship and resilience. Devoid of any sensationalism and lensed with immersive naturalism, Promised Sky is by turns affecting and joyous; insightful and unassuming; deceptively simple yet rich in emotions. And it’s one of the most dignified immigrant films in recent memory. — Joseph Fahim