The hopes and fears of the migrants selling souvenirs in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower

Harassed by police, stepped over by tourists, and in constant fear of deportation – such is the daily grind for the Senegalese migrants who scrape by selling trinkets at the Eiffel Tower. Their lives, so often overlooked or treated with contempt, are chronicled by the UK director Tal Amiran in his powerful, confronting short documentary Dafa Metti (Difficult). Amiran gives voice to these men to tell their own stories, revealing how conditions back home pushed them to make dangerous journeys to France, and how, even after arriving in one of the world’s wealthiest cities, their lives often become more precarious still. Amiran’s artful and humane portrait of life on the margins of Paris was celebrated on the film festival circuit in 2020, playing at the BFI London Film Festival and the AFI Docs documentary film festival, among others.