Mossane is a film about a beautiful 14-year-old girl from a rural Serer village, beloved by many including her own brother, and Fara, a poor university student. Although she has long been promised in marriage to the wealthy Diogaye, Mossane defies her parents’ wishes and pursues a relationship with Fara. The film shows the strength of a younger generation as they resist archaic traditions, and revels in their courage and their wish for emancipation.
Tag: SENEGAL
MambĂ©ty describes what would be his final film as “a hymn to the courage of street children,” but like all of his works, it is also a hymn to Senegal, to post-colonial Africa and to resourceful visionaries like the courageous girl of the title. Undaunted by poverty or handicap, the young Sili Laam leaves her blind grandmother begging in the street to seek out a better existence for them both. As the only female newspaper seller, she encounters constant obstacles along the way, yet reacts by simply standing up for herself and others. Nonchalantly fighting for equality and justice, Sili’s courage and resilience are depicted with a mix of joy and hardship, but no saccharine.
When Serigne Ibra finally decides to get married, he declares that his future bride must not only be a ravishing beauty, but also must not have any kind of scar or blemish on her body. Unhappily, none of the women in the village meet his criteria, until one day a mysterious woman suddenly appears.
Ngor is a young man living in a Senegalese village who wishes to marry Columba. Ongoing drought in the village has affected its crop of groundnuts and as a result, Ngor cannot afford the bride price for Columba.
For fear of enduring genital mutilation, a group of girls flee their own “purification” ceremony and take refuge with CollĂ©, a woman who had spared her daughter from the same fate. CollĂ© casts a spell to protect the girls, which causes much consternation among among the village elders. In retaliation, they confiscate all radios from the women villagers and demand that the spell be broken, but CollĂ© nevertheless holds fast.
A Catholic and a Muslim die the same day. Islamic villagers claim the body of the Muslim and bury him. But they got the Catholic’s body. He was a dissident, probably for arguing against accepting foreign. Based on a true story, a drama about African religion and African pride.
A sarcastic look at Senegal’s capital that followed the adventures of what the director described as a “somewhat immoral street urchin who is very much like myself”. The contest pits the non-conformist individual against an absurdly caricatured policeman who pursues the protagonist through comedically improbable scenarios. Badou Boy celebrates an urban subculture while parodying the state.
The film, Emitai, is the story of the silent resistance among a Diola tribe in West Africa in early World War II. Desiring a strong army, the French tear through villages rallying up men to be transported to France while leaving the women behind to tend to children and the elderly. The tension between the army and villagers grow when the French demand access to their rice crop. The village resistance ends in violence and uproar because rice is not only essential but also sacred to the village.