Ali is living in the harbor city of Massawa. The harbor is almost deserted. Ships and sailors are rare. He drinks tea in the afternoon looking the time passing away.

A young boy in the streets of Segeneiti. Even if he would succeed to go to the university he will never have the opportunity to choose his job. The military service or the long journey of emigration are more likely to become his future.

Kidane is a retired soldier. He has been wounded by shrapnel during fightings between Ethiopian and Eritrean forces and nearly lost one eye. Desillusioned by the government and the eritrean dictatorship, he's expecting a change in the actual situation.

An old man is sitting on a stairway in Asmara, the eritrean capital. His clothes reflect the italian influences due to the past colonization of the country.

is working in a small brothel of Keren. Due to the economical problems and the lack of perspectives, she begun to work as a prostitute in this small city far away from her hometown.

The Fiat-Tagliero building by the italian architect Giuseppe Pettazzi is one of the most important relict from the colonial period.

Almost every Eritreans need a permit to travel outside their hometowns or affectation cities. Cars are pretty rare and gasoline expensive although Eritrea owned unexploited reserves of oil.

Coffee ceremony in a bar in the harbor city of Massawa. Some people call Eritrea the Cuba from Africa. Most of the girls are working as prostitutes.

Very few edibles are produced in the country. The offer is also limited.

Night is falling on the town of Keren. The lack of power plants is responsible for the numerous electricity blackouts.

The fear of the dictator Isayas Afewerki is widespread. Those young Eritreans have been to university and are now obliged to work for a government they don't support.

People from the diaspora, mostly supporting the government, are coming back during the summer. They bring currencies in the country.

Belt from arrested people are hanging on a police station wall. A graffiti warn: "Liars should have good memories" (sic)

In Eritrea the average income is about 25$. Not enough to subsist, not enough to leave.

Pupils are sent to the military camp of Sawa. If they succeed to have good marks they will have the opportunity to study. If not they will be soldiers. Most of them are leaving their hometowns for the first time and still enjoy the perspective to make new encounters and experiences.

A small cafe in Asmara. Although there's just one national TV channel, it's possible to watch BBC, CNN or Al-Jazeera everywhere. People are informed about the situation outside the country without to know anything about their own.

Eritreans are waiting for the situation to change. If they are able to, they prefer to leave the country instead to suffer from the absence of freedom.

All the cataphiles are united in their fear that they may lose their treasured tunnels.

Some parts are flouded with ground water. The right gear permit to cross those tunnels.

Cataphiles meet sometimes by chance, sometimes by arrangement. Over a drink, they exchange information about the current situation of the tunnel network.

"Feufeu" shape a bank in order to arrange a new room which will be named depending on the atmosphere of the place.

This space, which is decorated with books, is called "la librairie" (the bookshop).

Catacombs represent a parallel world. The absence of sunlight provides a particular and unique perception of time.

35m under the streets of the french capital, some cataphiles stay for periods up to 72 hours in order to experience a feeling of hermitage.

The return to the surface is always a moment of apprehension.