Film Forum

“What is essential is invisible to the eye.” – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Translated into more than 375 languages (more than any book but the Bible), The Little Prince has been embraced across a vast swath of cultures – including those who speak endangered languages: the Berbers of Morocco, the indigenous Pipil of El Salvador, the Sami of Norway/Finland, and the people of Tibet. Originally published in 1943, the book’s enigmatic story of an angelic child who befriends a stranded pilot in the North African desert, has been debated for years. As understood by people who are themselves outcasts and exiles, it is a tale of friendship, alienation, loneliness, and eternal life. Appropriately, the film opens in the Sahara desert and moves across the globe to gather insights into what this literary masterpiece has meant to those who struggle to preserve a language and culture on the cusp of extinction.

Presented with support from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Fund and the Richard Brick, Geri Ashur, and Sara Bershtel Fund for Social Justice Documentaries

THE NETHERLANDS   2018   90 MINS.   IN FRENCH, TIBETAN, TAMAZIGHT, SÁMI, AND NAWAT WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES   FILM MOVEMENT