The Conjurer
Laurent Lafuma
2012 - 19 min - Mini DV - Couleur - France

The film follows the tracks of Ranavalona III, the last Madagascan queen, caught in the vice of French colonialism and imperialist will. She was sent into exile, in early 1897, reached the Reunion Island, then Algeria, where she died in 1917; she never got the chance to see her homeland again.
From a visit to the Saint-Germain-en-Laye city museum collection, to a traditional exhumation ceremony, through travel images and other visual propositions, her tragic destiny is revealed in different cinematographic forms.
Throughout his investigation, the author develops a personal relation to the figure of the queen. He recalls her memory – did she visit him in a dream to ask for her honour to be restored? -, the author becoming a companion on the route of exile, with the firm intention of defending her.
The film tackles both memory and political issues. Its substance can be seen as the result of an anthropological and artistic wandering.