Where There Is Love, There Is No Darkness

Set in modern-day Paris, writer and director Stevan Lee Mraovitch’s indie feature film Where There Is Love, There Is No Darkness is a telling portrayal of humanity at its best and worst.

Oumar Diaw plays Seydou, a Senegalese man living in Paris, trying to earn enough money to support his pregnant wife (Ramata Sow) back home by working as a delivery man. The tiring job role and rude customers aside, his circumstances become even bleaker when the man who pays them goes missing and his account is frozen. Fortunately, Seydou’s bonds with the other delivery guys he knows, as well as an unlikely encounter with an elderly man in need (Albert Delpy), will give him the support he needs to find the light in this dark time. Through hard work, his faith, and an unyielding commitment to kindness, Seydou becomes a modern hero.

Where There Is Love, There Is No Darkness is a beautifully crafted film on a modest budget (around €200,000). Seydou’s travels on his bike around the urban Parisian landscape make for a wonderfully cinematic exploration, whilst we are delivered a fully-fledged story with plenty of tension, peril, and moving moments of emotional connection. The camaraderie between the riders from Senegal is infectious, from their banter about the hardships of their jobs to group singing songs from home, it provides a stark contrast to the often disrespectful behaviour they face from the people they deliver food to and those they work for.

The indie feature film taps into many important social issues, including migration and modern slavery, and these are given expert dramatic poignancy by the filmmakers. There is a wonderful balance, however, with heartwarming moments of pure humanity, such as Seydou’s blossoming friendship with Albert, whom the former helps, out of purely good motives without any expectation of reward.

The film’s name derives from an African proverb, and audiences will certainly feel a distinct uneasiness between the lifestyle that first-world countries “enjoy” and that of the one Seydou comes from. A scene in the film involves Seydou morosely talking about a fisherman he’s watching in Paris, where the river is bereft of fish and children playing in it. This is brought into a more deeply felt poignancy later in the film when we learn that it was Seydou’s occupation back home before the “Big Ships” arrived.

Oumar Diaw is absolutely terrific onscreen and does so much heavy-lifting throughout the film’s numerous calls on his energy. From appearing weary and desolate in a cafe, to passionately inspiring his friends, through to thoughtfully praying, it’s a wide-reaching role and one portrayed in spectacular fashion.

A few moments in the movie let it down slightly; the sequences where Seydou is in normal speed and the crowds around him are sped up felt jolting and not completely necessary. Some of the dialogue between the group of riders also felt exposition-heavy and came across as less authentic than it should have. These gripes, however, are merely superficial damage to an otherwise remarkable package. The "package" being an extraordinary film delivered with warmth, awareness, and a moving commitment to human storytelling. For such marvellous filmmaking, Stevan Lee Mraovitch and his crew are deserving of a mighty tip.