The Lonely Woman

Images of modern slavery. Akosse Legbai, a young Togolese woman, recalls painful memories. Her gentle voice resonates in an empty luxury apartment while she recounts how she came to France two years ago. When she arrived her passport was taken away from her and she was forced to work as a cleaning lady and nanny in an upper-class home, with no leave or salary. After one year, she finally managed to escape from this modern prison. Photographs and moving images of objects, a covered table, a working washing machine – elements that constituted her domestic universe – bring forth memories of the recent past and of a more distant past, of her childhood in a small village somewhere in Togo. In his documentary essay Brahim Fatih finds touching images to express anonymity, desertion and longing. He moves with great discretion leaving the words to start healing the wounds of a victim of daily violence and exploitation. (DOK.fest München)