Since 2008, albinos in Tanzania have become human targets. Witch doctors offer huge sums of cash for their body parts to be used in magic potions. From 2008 to 2010, more than 200 witch-doctor inspired murders occurred. As a local saying goes: “Albinos do not die, they just disappear.” This is the story of Alias, an albino boy on the run. After his father’s murder, his mother sends him to the city. His uncle Kosmos, a truck driver, takes care of him. Alias learns fast in the city, selling sunglasses, DVDs and cellphones, it will not take long before the boy experiences at first hand the difficulties of life and of being different.
Acting
Hamisi Bazili's silent, watchful performance—trauma without melodrama.
Cinematography
Handheld urgency that makes the city feel predatory.
Direction
Deshe's background in music videos shows in the sensory overload.
Director
Noaz Deshe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Noaz Deshe, himself of mixed heritage, developed this after meeting albino activists in Tanzania; the film's fragmented structure mirrors Alias's fractured sense of self.
The 'white shadow' belief—that albinos don't die but vanish—was actively used by killers to suppress investigation; the film reclaims it as elegy.
US
