Even as Europe suffers its worst financial crisis, it is still considered a land of hope and opportunity by a host of West African immigrants who are desperate for both. From his native Senegal, director Moussa Touré offers an unvarnished glimpse into the common but often deadly immigrant journey, taking us on a lengthy and hazardous sea voyage to Spain with thirty of these men-and one unexpected woman. In the uniquely confined space of the brightly painted titular wooden boat, a mix of tribes and nationalities cohabit, but tensions run high under stressful conditions, and their shared goals are not always enough to keep the peace. Most of the passengers are reluctant to leave their home, including the self-assured captain Baye Laye, but feel they have no other option. For Baye Laye's antagonistic younger brother, Abou, it is the only chance to pursue his dreams of being a musician. For Aziz, it is the quest for a prosthetic limb for the leg he lost in a boating accident. For most, it is the simple desire to find gainful employment and provide for their wives and children. The Pirogue is a tale of thirty, but it is also the tale of millions more, and it is told with the skill and sensitivity of a filmmaker who knows his subject all too well.