Waiting for Godot at De Gaulle

For the first 15 minutes the film documents the rather well known story of Alfred living in Paris at Charles de Gaulle airport for eleven years. After that the documentary takes a new twist and tells us about the media coverage on Alfred's case and about the curious interdependent relationship between Alfred and the media. Well, that is interesting! Victim of a Kafkaesque bureaucracy, Alred (né Mehran Karimi Naseri) has been forced to live or - as we later are let known - has chosen to live in Paris at Charles de Gaulle airport for over a decade now. His refugee papers were stolen in Paris in 1988, after which he was forced to stay at the airport until he receives his papers from Belgium. Nobody expected that the process would take 11 years! During this time Alfred has been the subject of numerous newspaper and television reports. Trying to make his story even sensational, reporters have added things, and left some parts untold. It happens that this film crew is right there when Alfred finaly receives his papers and is at last free to go. At first Alfred agrees to go with the film crew to Brussels to get shelter and social security. But after sleeping overnight he changes his mind as many reporters show up for the event. He chooses the nest he is used to and the media attention which he clearly enjoys over a normal life. 'Waiting for Godot at de Gaulle' sheds light to the multilayered relationship between a documentary filmmaker and his/her subject, between the media and the people it covers. The film was awarded an honorary mention at Nordisk Panorama, Norway, Nordic Video Award at the Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden and Best Documentary award at the Vancouver Iranian Film and Video Festival in 2000.