France, May 19 -- Benrachid left Chad at the age of 17, heading for Libya with Europe as his destination. After spending a year there, including four months in forced detention, he crossed the Mediterranean on a rubber dinghy bound for Italy.

Six months later, he crossed the border into France on foot and settled there.

The beginnings

He first become interested in cinema while he was training to be a teacher. It was during a visit to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) to apply for political asylum that he had an unexpected encounter.

A photographer, struck by his face and his height, stopped him on the Paris metro and offered him a shoot. "I told him I'd never had my photo taken in my life,"...