The Last Chapter

Work, love, displacement, hope for a better future… There are many reasons for a person to move away from their homeland. Throughout the years, the reasons for leaving may fade and the significance of one’s roots may be emphasized. Many begin to ponder where they would like to grow old, or where they would want to be buried when the time comes.

Through aging, Sisto Erista, Justine Okoth, and Ben Allal Ayad, who have built their lives in Finland, contemplate loneliness, the importance of culture, and the status of seniors in their new and old home countries. Sisto looks for new meaning in his life to escape loneliness in retirement. He ponders his relationship with his children, and attempts to get his family from South Sudan to Finland. 

Retired pharmacist, Justine, longs for Uganda to reunite with his relatives. There, the world is vibrant and traditions thrive. Simultaneously, it is painful to realise how distant his father’s home country feels to his own children.

Ben Allal Ayad lives at the Kankari art villa with his wife, and dedicates his life to art. Reflected through his art, are his country of birth, Morocco, as well as northern Finland and his years spent around the world. Still, worries regarding the future cloud his family’s love-filled everyday life.

The Last Chapter is the fifth documentary film by Moroccan-born Mohamed el Aboudi, who resides in Finland. The director’s earlier work School of Hope (2021) received extensive international attention.

Anna-Sofia Joro (translated by Tara Tuchyner)

Mohamed el Aboudi will attend the film screening on 4 Feb.