The Berlin Wall and the West Bank barrier are just two examples of man-made constructions that divided (and still divide in Israel) two communities. In Baghdad we're seeing a similar, but invisible division being established between former neighbors. But what happens when an "alien" community "invades" the space occupied by a long-established indigenous population? That's the scenario Senegalese director Moussa Toure explores in the Catalan setting of NOSALTRES.

NOSALTRES focuses on two communities: Malian immigrants from Africa and native Catalan residents, who have lived side-by-side for years without interaction. Speaking from his home in Senegal's capital, Dakar, Toure said the theme is about how we are all "etranges" (strangers) when transplanted to a different environment, but if we look beyond outward appearances ("lose your head" as he put it), we can all come together.

Toure is delighted his film is showcased "in the cinema of the world: Hollywood." As an established director, fundraising is not too much of a problem for him these days, but early in his career the lack of available finance forced him to think beyond his skills as a writer to master all aspects of cinema production, from scripting to shooting to post-dubbing, a theme which continues for each subsequent generation.

The filmmaker has worked in the film industry for over thirty years, starting out as a 14-year-old runner for luminaries such as French auteurs Francois Truffaut and Bertrand Tavernier, who spotted his early potential. The French connection continues to this day as he still uses the same director of photography as Tavernier, but the experience he gained working in the French school made Toure dream for the African film industry to move beyond its recurrent themes of "villager moves to big city" and embrace a more global attitude.

Ironically, Toure's international breakthrough came from his 1998 picture TGV (villager catches train to big city), which won numerous awards in Africa, Europe and America - opening the door to international funding as well as providing a global showcase for African cinema.

It's a hands-on approach, reflected in the scene where bikinied sun worshippers embrace exhausted newly arrived African migrants on the shore of the Spanish coasts. This reminds us that man-made borders can also be breached by man's common decency.