Director : JOSEPH GAï RAMAKA

Genre : FICTION Feature

SUPPORTED BY FONDS IMAGES FRANCOPHONES & RED SEA FUND

STATUS : LATE DEVELOPMENT

Synopsis (EN)

One night on the eve of African independences, Hans the foreman of a mining con- cession kill Gor - a machinist - over a petty argument.

A storm breaks out and in the chaos and stupor of the other workers, the foreman get rid of the body. Having heard of this violent passing, the village starts mourning his departed.

With the complicity of the Guards, Fit - Gor’s brother, enters the managers’ residence and demands that Thomas, the supervisor of the site, return the body of his brother to their family.

Witnessing these events are the pale eyes of Leone, a French expat who just arrived to Africa out of love for Thomas. Her presence agitates the poor Hans in his descend- ing madness. At the same time Thomas tries to bargain with Fit and convince him to renounce his demands in exchange for money. Fit refuses any arrangement.

His stance fascinates Leone who takes his side. During a firework display, Hans andThomas try but bail to assassinate Fit.The Black Guards of the City will execute them.

The day slowly dawns.Vultures scream in the sky. A Citroën D.S. passes a small bridge and drives away on the flooded road of Niayes towards the airport.Then.The car stops. A door opens.

A silhouette. Léone turns back

Director’s Bio

Joseph Gaï Ramaka is a Senegalese filmmaker. In 1997, he directed the shor t film Ainsi soit-il, which won him the Silver Lion at the 54th Venice International Film Festival. His first feature film Karmen Geï was selected to screen at the 54th Cannes Film Festival (Director’s Forthnight) in May 2001, at the Sundance Film Festival and at the 2002 Pan African Film & Arts Festival Awards in Los Angeles. His second feature film, Et si Latif avait raison! won the Best Documentary Film Award at the 2006 Vues d’Afrique Festival in Montreal. In 2009, with It’s my man! he made his first love story documentary, filmed in the USA. He created the New Orleans Afrikan Film Festival. In 2013, he created Goree Island Cinema, a space for encounters and cinematic creations, which since 2015 has been home to the Gorée Cinema Festival.