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No U-Turn (15) + ScreenTalk

Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2023

People sit on a bus

Celebrated director Ike Nnaebue accompanies fellow Nigerians as they leave home to travel north through Africa and beyond, in search of opportunity despite known and unknown challenges ahead. 

As a young man, director Ike Nnaebue left Nigeria intending to take the route via Benin, Mali, and Mauritania to Morocco - but he was forced to turn back earlier, and never made it to Europe. In this, his first documentary he retraces the life-changing journey he made over 20 years ago.

Along the way, he meets those who are taking the same trip and, through conversations with them, tries to understand what motivates young people today to expose themselves to the dangers of a passage into an uncertain future. Most are aware of the dangers of traveling undocumented by road, yet more and more are joining the ranks of those who take this risk.

We are delighted to welcome filmmaker Ike Nnaebue (via Zoom), and curator, impact producer & author Nadia Denton for a conversation after the film.

France/Nigeria/South Africa 2022 Dir Ike Nnaebue 94 min (in the Igbo, French, Bambara, Pidgin, English language)

Please note: this film mentions of rape, human trafficking, and modern slavery. There are instances of offensive language.

This is a captioned screening. HOH captions, including text description of significant sound effects as well as dialogue. Live-captioning of post-screening discussion.

There is audio description available for this title. We provide audio description using the Dolby Screentalk system. The film soundtrack comes through the speakers in the usual way and a recorded narrator explains what is happening on screen through personal headphones. Please ask a member of staff for a set of headphones.

‘Why is it unrealistic to dream of comfortable life in a continent of abundant resources?‘
Ike Nnaebue, Director, No U-Turn
‘No U-Turn is a strong documentary that provides answers to questions around the motivations for migrating and experiences on the journey.‘
Anietie Ewang, Researcher, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch

Watch the trailer and discover the Human Rights Watch Streaming Platform

Two women sit looking into the distance

No U-Turn trailer

Watch the trailer for No U-Turn, part of Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2023

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