The title of Rivers film is based on is a line taken from a short story by Tangiers-based American writer Paul Bowles and the title of Ben Rivers’ docu-fiction in two parts.
The documentary part takes place on an actual set of French filmmaker Oliver Laxe, who is seen having trouble filming his own movie. The second -fictional- part follows the story from which the title sentence was lifted. It begins when Laxe, overwhelmed by the difficulties he has encountered, abandons his own filmset. He drives off into the desert, where he is abducted by a gang of nomads. Made to wear a heavy suit of tin-can lids and forced to dance on command, Laxe is trained up to be sold as a slave who dances for people’s amusement.
