No Present for Noël 1986

Directed by Rob Rombout

Noël N’Tunda is forty-two. Born in Rwanda, he has lived in Belgium since he was twelve, on a welfare allowance that is just enough to live on. His days are all alike: chance meetings in bars, appointments with social workers. Noël shows the places he passes every day and tells of those that shaped his life, and Rob Rombout follows him with direct questions. Noël answers with humour: “There is an ocean between what I expected from life and what I have become.” The film moves between past and present. And also: “If I could afford it… I would go swimming.”