When Lena and Ulli start the engine of their old Land Rover, Lady Terés, they have a plan: to drive from Hamburg to South Africa in six months. What they don't know yet is that they won't ever get there. Two totally different characters, jammed together in two square meters of space for almost two years, they experience what it really means to travel: leaving your comfort zone for good.
Though gay-themed stories about "coming out" and accepting one's sexuality are not uncommon in Western countries, such tales are still rare in many conservative African nations. Considered a ground-breaking film in its native Guinea, and filmed amidst a storm of controversy, Mohamed Camara's Dakan is the first of its nations films to directly address issues surrounding homosexuality. The story centers on the romance between two 20-year-old men, Manga and Sory who are first seen making out in a car. The trouble begins when Manga tells his widowed mother about his love for Sory, who is busy contending with his outraged father. The parents insist that the two never see each other again. Manga's mother then uses witchcraft to cleanse her son and change him into a heterosexual. Time passes and eventually Manga begins to date a girl. But it soon becomes apparent that try as he might, Manga's heart belongs to Sory.
Refuge(e) traces the incredible journey of two refugees, Alpha and Zeferino. Each fled violent threats to their lives in their home countries and presented themselves at the US border asking for political asylum, only to be incarcerated in a for-profit prison for months on end without having committed any crime. Thousands more like them can't tell their stories.
Every evening during exam season, as the sun sets over Conakry, Guinea, hundreds of school children begin a nightly pilgrimage to the airport, petrol stations and wealthy parts of the city, searching for light to study. This evocative and poignant documentary shows how children reconcile their daily lives in one of the worlds poorest countries with their desire to learn.
Filmmaker David Achkar searches for his father, Marof Achkar, who was sent to the notorious Camp Boiro prison in 1969 for treason.
En 1990, Laurent Chevallier réalisait "Djembefola". À travers ce film, on pouvait découvrir le talent de l'un des plus grands virtuoses de percussions africaines : Mamady Keita. Depuis ce film, Mamady est devenu une vedette de renommée internationale (tournées en Europe, au Japon, aux États-Unis). Il est également l'un des plus grands, si ce n'est le plus grand professeur de percussions africaines. Pour consacrer ses dix ans en Europe, Mamady a réuni autour de lui, en juin dernier, les grandes vedettes de la musique moderne africaine, comme Manu Dibango ou Mory Kanté, ainsi que les plus grands percussionnistes venus de Guinée (Famoudou Konaté), du Mali (Soungalo Coulibaly) et du Sénégal (Doudou N'diaye Rose). Du village vers la ville puis vers l'étranger, le parcours du djembé est aussi celui de Mamady, qui vit en Europe et revient chaque année en Guinée jouer et enregistrer les grands maîtres. Mamady est devenu ambassadeur.
Kandia, dit « la voix d'or du Manding », est le surnom donné au griot guinéen Ibrahima Sory Kouyaté (1933-1977) qui fut le chanteur emblématique d'une Afrique devenue indépendante. Pour raconter cette légende chantante, Laurent Chevallier a proposé à son fils Kaabi qui vit en France de retourner en Guinée pour remonter sur les traces de Kandia, retrouver les lieux, rencontrer les témoins et chercher l'homme qu'était son père derrière la légende de sa voix d'or. « En quête de vérité le cinéma de Laurent Chevallier révèle la puissance vocale d'un artiste unique, grâce aux archives retrouvées mais surtout en suivant Kaabi, le fils de Kandia, sur les traces de son père en Guinée.
The first Hirde Dyama National Festival of Culture of the Republic of Guinea was held in March 1970 in the country's capital city of Conakry. The film features many colorful and diverse performances and highlights the protection of traditional West African cultural traditions and art forms under President Ahmed Sékou Touré.