(Ramata-Toulaye Sy, 2023, Senegal/France/Mali/Qatar, 87 minutes)
Senegal has long been a cinematic hotbed—see Ousmane Sembène, Djibril Diop Mambéty, more—and in the past few years it’s been exciting to watch a young generation of filmmakers emerge from the country. In 2019 Mati Diop became the first Black woman director to have a film play in competition at the Cannes Film Festival with Atlantics, and in 2023 Ramata-Toulaye Sy became the second with this, Banel & Adama. In Banel & Adama, the title characters are young and married, living in a small village in the northern part of the country. Adama is expected to assume the role of the village chief, though, right as our pair navigate their own plans and the village sees some unexpected strife.
In Pulaar with English subtitles